I spent part of two summers with my godparents in Sherman, Texas as a teen. It was a pretty chaotic house with not only all of their kids, but half the neighborhood it seemed. Teresa was a good cook but meals were large and based on either beans or pasta of some sort. I liked the Texas beans because they were not spicy nor were they sweet! This takes about 3 hours so plan ahead. They hold well so you can cook ahead.
Recipe Ingredients:
Two pounds of dried pinto beans
One cup of small white beans
One small onion, diced
Three cloves garlic diced
2 cubes beef bullion
1-1.5 pounds cheap beef, chunked into small bits. Soak in soy sauce for 10 minutes.
Olive oil
9 cups water
One can diced tomatoes with green chilis
Instructions:
Rinse dried beans thoroughly. Place them in a large soup pot with the water and beef bullion. Put on high until it starts to boil then reduce heat to medium (slow boil). While that is warming up, sauté the onions and garlic in a few tsps of olive oil until they soften. Add the beef chunks and cook until carmelized. If you want, you can add a diced bell pepper to the sauté mixture.
Add the carmelized beef mixture to the pot of simmering beans. Reduce the heat to medium low so that it is barely bubbling. Hold for 2 hours at a very low simmer as the beans and beef soften up. Once the beans have completely softened, add the can of diced tomatoes and continue on low until heated through. This is pretty thick, not watery, so boil down if needed.
These are pretty simple, hardy, and very cheap. They can be made without the actual beef to reduce costs, but you should have a beef bullion of some sort since that is the base flavor. This makes a large bowl and lasts for a bit in the fridge so it is great for lunches, after school snacks or a lot of kids! Enjoy!
