Charro Beans - Success

I haven't been using my pressure cooker like I had planned.  I didn't use it at all in December but I got back into it tonight.  I have this great recipe for these delicious Charro Beans but I've always done them in the crock pot cooking for 8 hrs.  I was worried that it wouldn't be as flavorful in the pressure cooker but it turned out really, really well.  

I tried a few recipes for beans with a spicy mexican flair and most of them were super bland!!  I was excited to find this recipe a couple of years ago.  It's better than any beans I've ever had in a restaurant.  

I added everything to the pot and pushed the button for beans which sets it for 15 min.  After it was over the beans weren't quite done.  They were tasty but not fully cooked, not crunchy but not nearly as soft as they need to be.  

This is the beans after the first time around in the pressure cooker.  You can see that there is to much liquid and the beans aren't done.  

So I sealed it up and ran it for another 'bean' cooking cycle.  I was really worried that they would end up way overcooked but they turned out perfect!  Definitely cooked through but not mushy at all.  

So all in all, prep time through letting the final steam off it took about 1 hr 15 min or so.  In the crock pot it took 8 hrs in cooking time only.  I love that I can use dried beans and still get it done relatively quickly.  I did not soak the beans at all, simply rinsed them.  

This is the way the beans came out when they had completely cooked.  They are so flavorful and delicious!  

Charro Beans - makes about 8 cps of beans

·  1/2 pound bacon

·  1 pound dry pinto beans

·  4 cups water

·  2 cups beef broth

·  6 cloves garlic, minced

·  2 jalapeno (seeds & membranes removed), diced

·  1 tablespoon cumin

·  1 teaspoon garlic powder

·  1 teaspoon chili powder

·  1 (15-ounce) can Rotel (diced tomatoes & green chiles)

·  1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

·  Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cut up the raw bacon and cook it until just crispy, pour into the pressure cooker.  

Include the bacon grease for maximum flavor. 

Place beans in a colander, rinse well, and remove any stones or shriveled beans. Pour beans into slow cooker. Cover with water and beef broth. Add garlic, jalapeño, cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder. 

Stir in Rotel and 2/3 of the chopped cilantro, seal and using the Beans button on the pressure cooker bring it up to pressure and cook. My cookers Bean setting cooks for 15 min and I had to run it twice to get the beans cooked through.

When the beans are done stir in the rest of the fresh cilantro and serve.

Tips
Always use fresh dry beans, as old beans can take

much longer to become tender (and may possibly never soften!)

Dicing jalapenos can be intense!

There are fumes that I can't smell but they make me cough something fierce!

Also, be careful about touching your eyes, nose, etc after chopping any hot pepper. The oils will burn you like no other. Because of this I recommend using a food chopper to get them dice up really fine. 

For a milder version reduce to one jalapeno and reduce the amount of chili powder to ½ tsp.  I believe it would still be flavorful but I’ve never tried it so I can’t say for sure.