For this week’s bean adventure, I made Charro Beans, or Frijoles Charros. I looked at multiple recipes and cobbled together my own, which I’ll attempt to put down in words here:

• 1lb dried pinto beans, soaked for four hours then cooked with onion, carrot, and bay leaves.
• 4 tbsp bacon grease
• 1/4lb Mexican chorizo
• 1 serrano chile
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 poblano pepper
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• Salt

Notes:

• I didn’t put any bacon in there, thinking the bacon grease + chorizo would be enough. Next time I think I’ll add bacon. I think this would be a good use for bacon ends you sometimes see on sale in butcher shops.
• I know charro beans are typically soupy, but I cooked this batch down until they were a little thicker, which is how I prefer them.
• I ate these frequently last week: On the side in a bowl, as an ingredient in tacos, as the sole ingredient in tacos, and in breakfast tacos. Delicious, versatile dish.

Since I made a full pound of beans, I had plenty of leftovers.

What do you do with leftover charro beans? According to Arnie Tex, you turn them into Frijoles Puercos.

I used a blend of Arnie’s recipe and this recipe from Maricruz Avalos:

Frijoles Puercos

I used Oaxaca cheese, which Charlie calls Mexican String Cheese. It basically is!

The Frijoles Puercos were great. We ate it as an appetizer the first day, then the next day we put it in breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs. Highly recommended.

Amanda even put some on a hot dog in place of chili, and now she is requesting that I make another batch soon.

I think I’ll make some for the next friend hang cookout.