I think beans are the perfect side for BBQ. Real BBQ I mean. Low and slow. Ribs. Brisket. Chicken. Hot links. Charro beans are more Mexican than Texas. But I don’t care. They work. They work well.
Charro beans aren’t just good with Mexican
Charro beans are good with backyard grilling too. In fact, they are good on their own. Eat them out of the pot. I do. Leftovers make a wicked lunch. Lots of ways to enjoy them. These are the original cowboy beans. Meant to be cooked over a campfire. Everyone gets upset when I light a campfire in the kitchen. So the smoke flavour has to come from somewhere else. Turns out that’s not so hard. Bacon is smoky. Check. Fire-roasted tomatoes are smoky. Check. Chipotles are smoked jalapeños. Big check. Smoke taken care of. No campfire required. Bit disappointing but at least I didn’t burn the house down…
Making fire-roasted tomatoes is easy
Saw a great tip for fire-roasted tomatoes on Serious Eats. Use a blow torch and just scorch them. Takes about 15 seconds per tomato. Toss them in a cast iron pan (safety first – see the note above about no campfires in the kitchen) and just hit them with some flame. Instant fire-roasted tomatoes. If you don’t have a torch, fire-roasted from a can work too. Not as much fun though.
Charro beans are best when you use dried pintos
I like to start with dried beans. Doesn’t mean this won’t work with canned. Either is fine. I just find the texture tends to be a bit better with the dried beans. I use a pressure cooker when I prepare dried beans. Speeds things up nicely. Probably my number one use of that particular kitchen gadget. That’s pretty much it. Smoky charro beans without burning down the house. And you get to play with a blow torch. What’s better than that?
