When we were in Scotland, we’d order our pinto beans from an online retailer, because the only ones we could find locally were so incredibly ancient that they’d never cook down. The ones we got shipped to us were quite a bit better, and we made do with soaking them overnight and then cooking them in the slow cooker for about 6 hours. California pintos, though! We soaked some for about an hour and then cooked them down in a pot, on the stove, with about 3 hours of cooking time. Amazing! Our “traditional” recipe for pintos is:
Cooked Pinto Beans
- 4 cups pintos
- 1 Habañero pepper, diced
- 4 Serrano peppers, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- Pick all of the broken beans out of the dry beans, and any pebbles you might find.
- Thoroughly wash the beans (they’re quite dusty, usually).
- Soak beans overnight (at least 6 hours).
- Cook beans in a crock-pot / slow cooker for about 6 hours, with all the other ingredients, making sure to have enough water to keep them covered (8 cups should probably do it).
We had soft tacos for dinner Tuesday, and again for lunch Thursday. Simply put a few spoonfulls of beans, some lettuce, cheese, chopped tomato, a slice of avocado, and yogurt into a warmed corn tortilla. Delicious!
We gifted our friends D & S with half of a 3-kilo bag of pintos when we left Scotland, along with a handful of frozen Habañero peppers. We truly hope that they’ll find the time to cook some pintos, and to enjoy something along the lines of soft tacos.
Before we went on the Paleo/Primal way of eating I cooked lots of pinto beans as did my Mom. I used the pressure cooker as it only took 25 minutes and I figured it saved energy plus they were ready fast and cooked through so well. I could eat the above actually just toss out the soft taco and I’m good to go. Hope things are going well for you two!! Nan 😉
Oh yum!! California is starting its influence already! I will have to try this next week.