Most weekends in the winter, you will find us in Vermont skiing. One of our traditions is Mexican Night. It’s probably the only weekend I actually cook up in Vermont. I tend to come up here and shut down cooking wise and my mom takes over. It’s a treat for me, because it’s one of the only times someone cooks for me!
So can you blame me for not wanting to cook..lol. A home cooked “Mom” meal, every weekend, yes please.
This is MY weekend thou. The menu starts off w/ Tortilla Soup. I have been using this same recipe for over 7 years and it’s still my favorite, always a crowd pleaser. I usually rotate in different types of tacos; ground beef, pork carnitas, shrimp, shredded chicken, and skirt steak.
Some combination of those. Then the sides….my favorite.
Up first, Drunken Beans. My dad brought up some fresh bacon that one of his customers gave him, so it was perfect timing for us, but you can use any bacon on hand.
Ingredients:
2 (29 oz cans) Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)
1 lb bacon, diced
2 beers – I used Vermont brewed beer – Mexican beer is best thou
Directions
Render bacon crispy in medium to large stock pot. Since this was fresh bacon from the provisions, it didn’t have too much fat, so I added some oil to pan to help it along. If you use any packaged bacon for this, it will be fine and have enough fat to render it crispy. Once it’s rendered down crispy, deglaze pan with beer. Cook down for 10-15 minutes.
Add in the drained and rinsed beans and cook down for 15 minutes or so, to meld the flavors. If you still taste the beer and it’s overpowering, keep cooking it down. The beer type will vary this. Since I used a pilsner, it took a little longer than if I was using a Corona.
Once you achieve desired taste. Toss in the bunch of chopped cilantro. The amount of cilantro can vary by your preference. We LOVE cilantro, so used a whole bunch. You could get away with a few tablespoons.
Cook another minute or so until the cilantro marries the beans. Taste for flavor. I have never had to add salt to this dish, but ya never know. Taste it for salt. I would be really sad if your beans didn’t have enough salt, so do us all a favor
