More chili beans at the engine house

Yesterday's blog title was a little deceptive. I posted the recipe for corn salad instead of my pot of cowboy or chili beans.

So, here's the bean recipe. It's similar to the recipe for piquinto beans with spicy red sauce. The chili beans have a more smokey flavor from the ham hocks.

COWBOY BEANS

Menu with Dutch oven corn bread and corn, tomato and jalapeno salad.

3 pounds dried pink or pinto beans
3 pounds ham hocks
3 jalapeno chili peppers, seeded and chopped (3 to 4)
1-1/2 quarts canned tomatoes with green chiles
12 ounces onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons black pepper

Cover beans with water and bring to a boil. Cut the heat and let the beans set for 1 hour.

Add ham hocks to beans. Add additional water to cover if necessary. Cook slowly until tender, about 1 hour. Remove ham hocks from beans. Cut meat from bone and discard bones. Roughly chop meat and return to beans.

Add chili peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin and black pepper to beans. Cook slowly in kettle an additional 1-2 hours, until beans are soft and juice is thick. Add water as needed to keep beans from drying.

This recipe makes about 6-1/4 quarts. As with all recipes, the size of the serving utensil will determine how many portions you get. Plan on 50 (1/2-cup), 25 (1-cup) or 16 (1-1/4-cup) portions. One recipe will fit in a 12x20x4-inch hotel pan.