Chuckwagon Beans (frijoles A La Charra)

Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 cups dried red beans or 2 cups pink beans or 2 cups pinto beans
• 5 cups cold water
• 1 smoked ham hock or 1 smoked lamb, neck bone
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 -3 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
• tortilla chips

Recipe

• 1 rinse beans thoroughly with cold water.
• 2 combine beans, water, and ham hock in dutch oven. heat to boiling, and reduce heat to low (simmer) and cover. simmer about 1 1/2 hours. beans should be tender, but not soft.
• 3 after the 1 1/2 hours of cooking beans, heat oil in skillet, and cook onions until they are soft. add tomato paste, garlic, and jalapeño peppers to onion, stirring well for approximately 30 seconds.
• 4 add onion mixture and salt to beans, stir well, cover and cook for approximately 30 minutes. beans should be soft.
• 5 remove ham hock from beans. remove meat from bone. chop meat and return to beans.
• 6 add cilantro to beans and serve with chips.