Last night I made the basic pinto bean recipe from p. 137 of “Special Mexican Dishes.” Turned out well. It's simple but time consuming. Next time I'll use half the amount of bacon grease, and maybe throw in some actual chopped bacon, fried up crisp. The beans tasted even better the next morning.

Tonight I made for the first time "Cowboy Frijoles" from p. 233 of "366 Ways…" Not bad at all, although to be honest I substituted like crazy. I didn't have any ancho chiles, so I threw in two chipotles and one ordinary dried red chile. I didn't have cider vinegar, so I substituted red wine vinegar. I didn't have honey, so I substituted agave nectar.

The other thing I did differently was to soak the beans in advance for an entire day, the way Rachel Matesz advises. I don't know if that made any difference or not. We'll see over the next day or two as I eat them.

October 15, 2008

Yup, the beans are tasty. It's a good recipe. It uses no fat, and beans without fat or lard definitely are not quite the same as with.

This evening I made "curried spinach with chickpeas" from p. 212 of "366 ways…" Tasty. Next time I'll probably spice it up a bit more.

I made this recipe from p. 210 of “366 delicious ways to cook rice, beans, and grains.” I was very pleased with the result. Savory and mild, since I had left out the hot peppers since I was cooking for someone else who had a gentle palate. It's worth making again.