Recipe for "texmex-beans"

NAME

     TEXMEX-BEANS - Tex-Mex style pinto beans.
     This is known in Mexico as ``frijoles en olla''-beans in the
     pot.    This  is  the  basis  for  refried  beans  (frijoles
     refrito), but we also like it as well as a side dish.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4-6)

     500 g     dried pinto beans
     1         large onion, quartered
     3-4        bacon slices
     15 ml     salt

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Pick through the dried pinto beans to remove small
               rocks  (processors never seem to get rid of all of
               them).
          (2)  Rinse beans well several times  until  water  runs
               clear and all grit is removed.
          (3)  Place beans in a large pot with  enough  water  to
               reach 2/3's of the way up the pot.  Bring water to
               a boil and add 1 large  quartered  onion  and  3-4
               slices  of  bacon. During the cooking process, the
               onion will become mush.  This and  the  bacon  add
               real flavor to the beans.
          (4)  Cook over low heat for 3-4 hours until  the  beans
               are  very soft and tender.  Beans should just bub-
               ble, not boil, during the cooking process.
          (5)  During the first 90 minutes, stir and  check  fre-
               quently.  The beans absorb a large amount of water
               and you will have  to  add  some  periodically  to
               prevent burning.
          (6)  Add salt during the  last  30  minutes.   Finished
               beans  should  have  the consistency of bean soup-
               which I guess this is.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 4 hours.   Precision:  no  need  to
     measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Pamela McGarvey
     UCLA Comprehensive Epilepsy Project, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
     {ihnp4!sdcrdcf,ucbvax!ucla-cs,hao}!cepu!pam