Year of the Bean

In addition to my exciting recent Bean Day delivery, Rancho Gordo this fall had a batch of new (and new-to-me) beans and I couldn’t help myself – I had to order more. So I’m now well-stocked for winter, including these beautiful and delicious King City Pinks. I wanted to make enough to make sure I could enjoy them on their own, but also with all these half-full bags of other wonderful beans, thought I should bring them into conversation. So I decided to go with a three-bean chili of North American beans – the King City Pinks along with the Anasazi and Frijol Negro Santanero.

Ingredients – Beans

• 250g King City Pinks
• bay leaf
• olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Procedure – Beans

1. Cover beans, olive oil, and bay leaf with 2″ water; bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes
2. Lower to a simmer and simmer until softening; then add salt, stir, and cook another couple minutes
3. Set beans and their broth aside

Ingredients – Chili

• 300g King City Pinks, cooked as above
• 300g Anasazi Beans, cooked separately as above
• 300g Frijol Negro Santanero cooked separately as above with 5 minute boil
• one pint crushed tomatoes
• one medium onion, minced
• one red Bell pepper, chopped small
• 50g New Mexico Hatch chiles, minced
• two mesquite smoked poblano peppers, rehydrated, chopped small
• one jalapeño pepper, chopped small
• one spicy pepper (habanero or similar), minced
• three cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. New Mexico red chile powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• one cinnamon stick
• bay leaves, saved from cooking beans
• olive oil
• salt

Procedure – Chili

1. Heat olive oil over medium in a large stock pot or Dutch oven
2. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant; then add each hot pepper in succession, stirring and combining to cover in oil, about 15-30 seconds
3. When all hot peppers are in the pot, add onions, stir to combine, and a bit of salt to sweat them; cook for 5-10 minutes, until they begin to brown, adding more olive oil as needed to keep from sticking
4. Add bell pepper, a bit more salt, and cook until softening
5. Add chili powders and black pepper, stir to combine, and then add tomatoes and cinnamon stick and stir to combine
6. Cook until tomatoes have reduced a bit, then add beans and their reserved liquid; raise to a low simmer and cook for at least half an hour or more, until it reaches desired consistency; add more bean liquid or water as needed
7. Enjoy over rice, with cornbread, or on its own!