Beans and bacon! If you just finished a hedonistic 4,000-calorie Thanksgiving dinner and someone put a bowl of this in front of you, you’d snarf it down like a starving coyote!
- Ingredients
- 4 cups dry pinto beans
- 1 lb. thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces
- 2 whole green bell peppers, diced
- 1 whole onion, diced
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1⁄4 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp. mustard
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp. salt, or more to taste
- 2 tsp. black pepper, more to taste
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
Directions
Rinse the beans under cold water, sorting out any rocks/particles. Set aside.
In a heavy pot, ideally cast iron, sauté the bacon pieces until halfway cooked and the fat is rendered.
Add the green peppers and onions to the pot and cook until starting to get brown, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, and then add the brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, place on the lid and cook until the beans are tender and the liquid is thick; 3 to 4 hours.
Optional:
Instead of simmering, once you’ve combined the last of the ingredients you can move everything to a slow cooker. Cook till beans are tender and the broth has thickened up, at least 4 hours.