Borracho Beans

It wasn’t until I took a Spanish class that I learned that borracho means “drunk”. I’d had borracho beans at restaurants before but didn’t realize the source of the name. They’re called borracho because the beans are cooked in beer. Here’s my recipe.

4 cups cooked pinto beans
1/2 pound bacon
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1 can of cheap beer, preferably left over from a party
ground pepper
cayenne pepper

Cook the beans in advance. You want 4 cooked cups of beans, not 4 cups uncooked. Cut the bacon into 1″ pieces. Chop the onion and the garlic. Cook the bacon in a pot until it’s almost crispy. Add the onions and garlic, sauteeing in the bacon fat.

Then add 10 dashes of cayenne pepper (more or less depending on preference), some ground pepper (again, to taste), and the rest of the ingredients including the beans. Cook all these on medium heat for a while. Leave the cover off to let some (but not all) of the liquid simmer off.

This makes 3 to 6 servings, depending on how hungry you are.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: