Charro Beans with Roasted Chayote and Red Chili Corn Pone
A traditional Mexican dish named for her charros (cowboys), charro beans (frijoles charros, cowboy beans) are pinto beans simmered with onions, garlic, chilies and tomatoes. I’m adding black beans, epazote and Mexican oregano and serving it a roasted, scooped-out chayote (Aztec chayotli) squash with red chili corn pone on the side..
Soak dried beans overnight, then drain, rinse and cook in fresh water until not quite done, about 1-1 1/2 hours. Set aside.
For the corn pone, mix together 1 cup of white or yellow stone-ground cornmeal with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of coarse chili powder. Add 1 teaspoon lard or bacon grease, then carefully stir in 1 cup of boiling water (filtered). Allow to stand long enough to soften and cool, then form into 1/2 inch cakes about 3 inches in diameter. Cover with a damp towel and set aside. (this corn pone is based on a recipe by author Crescent Dragonwagon)
Meanwhile, split and seed 1 or more chayote, drizzle lightly with oil, season with S&P and roast in a 375 degree oven until charred and tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Toast whole cumin seed in a dry skillet until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon lard or bacon grease, minced garlic, chopped onion and diced jalapeño and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and oregano, beans and the scooped out, chopped flesh of the roasted chayote along with enough of the bean liquor to just cover.
Simmer until beans are tender but intact, perhaps 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, reheat chayote in the oven or under the broiler and fry the pones in a small amount of butter until golden brown and crispy on the edges.
Spoon bean mixture into chayote shells and serve with hot corn pones and a roasted jalapeño.
Chayote is a good source of Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium and Potassium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Zinc, Copper and Manganese.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at cheeseslave.com
Sustainable Eats said,
July 1, 2009 at 12:02 am
YUM! This is going on my table next week. This week is already too crazy to change. Can’t wait!
Ren said,
July 1, 2009 at 12:40 am
Glad to hear that somebody else is having a crazy week. I seem to be having a crazy month. Again.
I have your rules posted on my fridge, by the way. If half the world followed half of them we’d be in pretty good shape.
Thanks, Annette!
Sustainable Eats said,
July 1, 2009 at 12:45 am
It’s not easy – I finally found a farm across the border in OR that grows organic beans and dried corn which I buy in large quantities and I’ll have to use dried tomatoes since they aren’t ripe in Seattle yet. And of course I’ll have to leave out the chayote squash but I’m so there on the rest of it. It looks great! Love your new pic by the way.
Ren said,
July 1, 2009 at 12:54 am
You could grow chayote if you can squeeze out about 150 days between hard frosts. Just a thought ;-)
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1980-11-01/Growing-Chayote-Vegetable-Pear.aspx
Sustainable Eats said,
July 1, 2009 at 1:10 am
That’s pretty intriguing – great article. I’ll have to look around and see if we have some trellisable space now…
Accidental Huswife said,
July 1, 2009 at 1:06 am
Looks amazing! Those are precisely my local foods too — corn, beans, squash. For some reason, I haven’t been able to grow chayote here in my neck of Texas. I’ll try again next season.
Ren said,
July 1, 2009 at 7:25 am
Thanks! Chayote does best if sprouted on your counter before being planted. Once it roots, it likes quite a lot of sun and water and a trellis. Compost helps.
Betsy said,
July 1, 2009 at 4:07 am
So we pretty much use as much or as little of the ingredients as we want? The only quantities I see are for the corn pone.
Give me a hint, please – a pound of beans?
Sounds delicious – and something my husband will eat.
Ren said,
July 1, 2009 at 7:17 am
By all means, do modify to suit your taste. Here are the rough quantities that I used, enough to feed two adults depending on appetite..
1 1/2 cups dried beans
1/2 large onion
1-2 jalapeños
1 T Mexican oregano
1 t epazote (optional)
1 t cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes
2 chayote squash
S&P
Hope that helps!
Thanks!
Betsy said,
July 1, 2009 at 7:42 am
Thanks, Ren, that helps a lot. Maybe I shouldn’t be trying to figure out recipes at 4 AM, too. :)
Now I just have to find epazote.
Ren said,
July 1, 2009 at 7:57 am
Heh. Epazote (from Nahuatl epazōtl) is good to have, but totally optional.
Thanks, Betsy!
Cage Free Family said,
July 1, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Looks like the kinda food we’ve been eating a lot of lately :-)
Ren said,
July 1, 2009 at 5:27 pm
That’s good, right? ;-)
Cage Free Family said,
July 1, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Oh, yeah… next to Thai food (which I sadly do not know how to cook!) it is my favorite kind of food!
The baby wants beans lately. I absolutely must have them every day and have made everything from bean soups to bean dips and all the things in between.
Cage Free Family said,
July 1, 2009 at 6:21 pm
BTW, did any of the shade/cooling tricks we talked about help your potted plants? How are they in that 100 degree sun these days?
Ren said,
July 1, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I wound up buying a 9-foot patio umbrella, which has helped a lot. I still need to get the pots up off the ground, though, and something is eating all the basil.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop said,
July 2, 2009 at 6:23 am
Your pictures are gorgeous, Ren! I’ve never loved beans much, but I’m slowly coming around, and this recipe definitely looks crazy-delicious!
Ren said,
July 2, 2009 at 11:33 am
Thank you, Kelly!!
BBQ Heritage Pork Cheeks with Charro Beans and Vegetable Escabeche « Edible Aria said,
December 5, 2009 at 10:05 pm
[...] cheeks are slow-roasted with tomatoes, onions, peaches and chipotle and served with long-simmered charro beans and vegetable escabèche.. BBQ Heritage Pork Cheeks with Charro Beans and Vegetable [...]