Recipe - Charra Beans

I'm not a fan of refried beans, but I do like Charra Beans. I hope that you like these.


Charra Beans

1 pound of pinto beans (about 2 cups)
4 or 5 slices of bacon
1/4 cup juice from canned jalapenos
1/4 tablespoons of minced garlic (about 3 large cloves)
1/2 medium onion
3 or 4 jalapenos (chopped)
1/2 bunch of cilantro (chopped)
1/4 pound of fat back (or salt pork)
1 can of Rotel
32 oz beef broth
Salt to taste

Sort and rinse your beans then soak overnight.

Drain the beans, place them in a large stock pot and cover the beans with the beef broth and 3 cups of water for a total of 7 cups liquid.

Add the garlic, onion, jalapeno juice and fat back. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Be sure to stir occasionally.

After an hour and a half or two, check the beans for the desired texture. If they are not tender enough, keep cooking them.

While the beans are cooking, cut the bacon into 1" pieces and cook in a skillet.

Once the beans are tender enough, add the bacon, jalapenos, Rotel (with juice) and the cilantro. Cook for another 30 minutes or so.

Remove the fat back and serve.

Recipe - Pico de gallo

Pico de Gallo is very easy to make and goes great with so many dishes. I prefer mine with cilantro, but I know some people don't like cilantro. If your one of those, just omit it from the recipe. In the pictures, I mixed 3 vine ripened tomatoes with one roma tomato. Use whatever type of tomatos that you prefer. All ingredients can be adjusted to taste.

Pico De Gallo

3 or 4 Fresh ripe tomatoes (diced)
2 Jalapenos (diced)
1 Small onion (diced)
4 or 5 Sprigs cilantro (chopped)
1/2 Lime

Mix all ingredients except for the lime together in a bowl. Squeeze in the juice of the lime and mix well.

Recipe - Carne y papitas

This is a quick, easy meal to make. When I took the pictures, I had to make a couple of substitutions, but hopefully you get the idea.

Recipe courtesy of Brian Spagnola

Carne y papitas

1 Lb ground beef or stew meat
2 Small potatoes sliced fairly thin
1 Can chicken broth
1 Can Rotel
2 Cloves garlic (chopped)
1 Tbsp cumin
Salt
Pepper


Brown the meat in a skillet, preferably cast iron. Drain the fat and add all ingredients with enough chicken broth to cover the mixture. Cook until potatoes are soft.

Eat with tortillas and jalapenos.

Recipe - Chicken Fried Steak

My favorite meal is Chicken Fried steak. I just can't get enough of it. Hope that you like this as well as I do.

Chicken Fried Steak

Cubed Steak (Several good sized pieces)
Milk
Flour
Eggs (3)
Lawry's Season Salt
Garlic Powder
Cooking oil

Mix the eggs with about 1/4 cup of milk in a bowl. Put about a cup of flour in another bowl.

Dredge a steak in the flour, then in the milk/egg mixture. Season both sides with season salt and garlic powder then dredge in the flour again.

Do this to all of your steaks, place them in a single layer on a platter and into the refrigerator for about an hour.

When the hour is up, pour cooking oil into a skillet so there is about 1/4" oil in the skillet. On med-high, heat the skillet and place the steaks in the grease once it's hot.

Don't crowd the steaks. Give them room.

Cook them for about 5 minutes each side or until golden brown. Place on paper towels to soak the grease.

Gravy

Dispose of most of the oil in the skillet. Add flour to the hot oil to make a paste. Slowly add milk and keep stirring to eliminate the lumps. Once it starts to boil, reduce to a simmer. Add milk until desired thickness is obtained.

Recipe - SOS

This is a very simple meal that consists of hamburger meat in gravy and spooned over french fries. It's one of my favorites. I love this stuff. SOS normally is served on toast, but I prefer it served over french fries. Some people substitute the hamburger meat for ground sausage.

SOS

1 Lb Hamburger meat (or ground sausage)
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Milk

Brown the hamburger meat (or sausage), drain the skillet and save it.

Set the meat in another dish to the side and pour the grease back into the skillet over high heat.

Once the grease is hot and starting to bubble, add some flour and stir the flour into the grease. This is something that you will have to guess at because it will vary on how much grease is in the skillet. It should be the consistency of paste. You can adjust the consistency by adding more flour or cooking oil.

Once this is starting to brown a little, slowly add some milk. You need to keep stirring or it will burn. Once that milk evaporates, add some more and keep stirring to break down the lumps. You stop stirring and the end result will be lumpy.

Once the milk comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Once the lumps are gone you can take a break from stirring. But you do need to stir occasionally. at this point salt and pepper to taste.

Continue simmering until the gravy is at the desired thickness. You can also adjust the thickness by adding milk or flour.

Remember the meat that you had set aside? Nows the time to add it to the gravy and mix it together.

Spoon over french fries or toast.