Almighty Dad | A stay at home dad blog

The weather has been turning decidedly chilly.  In recognition of that fact, I’d like to introduce to you a favorite dish of mine.  Frijoles Charros!  This might be the ultimate winter time soup.  It’s heavy — lot’s of meat and beans, and it’s a little spicy, too.  I don’t make it.  This, being a Mexican dish, is Mely’s job.  It’s one of the few recipes that survived the trip across the border when she came to the US.   Make this for your family, and I swear they’ll complain the next time beef stew is on the menu.  They’ll say “But where are the Frijoles Charros!  We want Frijoles Charros!”  and they’ll start to chant and destroy things until you make it for them.   There are many ways to make Frijoles Charros.  This is Mely’s family recipe. Keep in mind that on all of these ingredients you don’t have to use the same proportions.  If you’re a big garlic fan you can have more.  If you like onion — more.  Jalapeños — more.  The beauty of this recipe is that it is very flexible.   

Serves 6  

Ingredients:  

¼ kilo dry black beans (a lot of recipes call for pinto beans, but Mely’s family has always done it with black — I agree with their choice).  

1 slice of white onion (up to a quarter of an onion for flavor)  

1 garlic clove (but you can have more if you want)  

1 slice of bacon, cut (again, for flavor)  

200g chorizo  

100g ham slices (cut into small squares)  

4 hot dogs (real hot dogs – organic, to avoid nitrites and mystery meat)  

3 chopped tomatoes (don’t include the juice of the tomato)  

2 sprigs of cilantro plus some for garnish  

Peppers (3 serranos or 1 jalapeño) with stem, whole (the stems prevent them bursting. A burst pepper will make the concoction too spicy for most — unless you want it that way of course)  

Directions:  

1. Cook the beans:  Clean the dry beans.  Pick out the bad ones and any small rocks.  Wash them under clean cold water and leave them soaking overnight (at least 6 hours).  Rinse the beans again.  Put them in a deep pot with about 8 cups of water, the garlic clove, and the onion slice.  Bring them to a boil and keep them boiling until the beans are tender (about 2 hours), keep adding water as necessary so they don’t dry out.  Once they’ve cooked add salt to taste and let them cool.  

2. Once beans have cooled:  In another deep pot add some cooking oil.  In the pot, start frying the chorizo breaking it into small pieces as you go.  Add the bacon and continue frying.  When the chorizo and bacon are slightly golden, add the ham and the hot dogs and keep frying.  Finally add the tomatoes.   When the tomatoes start to shrivel, add the beans including the broth.  

3. When the brew starts boiling add the sprigs of cilantro.  At this point you can add the whole pepper(s) (serrano or jalapeño) to give it flavor.  If you want your dish spicy, cut the peppers into small slices and add them that way.  

4. Let it boil while stirring for about 5 minutes.  Serve it hot.  Garnish each bowl with more cilantro.  

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