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Directions
(Named for the very classy Aunt- Hortencia ("Tencha") of my not-so-classy ex-wife who gave me the recipe back when I was still in everyone's good graces.)
Wash and de-pebble the pintos, and soak overnight in clean water.
Place beans in a crockpot and cover w-water (about six cups is usually about right. Cut the bacon into approx. 1" squares, and start to fry. STOP frying BEFORE it begins to crisp- you want it to still be soft, you're just trying to obatain a little bacon grease.
Place partially cooked bacon in crockpot, reserve the grease in the skillet. Chop the Vidalia into small to medium chunk, and sautee briefly. Add onion to crockpot. Do the same with the tomatoes. Don't sautee them very long, they're still gonna breakdown in the crockpot. Add the tomatoes AND the bacon grease to the crockpot.
Next, chop the green onions and add them. (These are optional- I really only add them for a little visual effect, so don't sweat it if you don't got 'em.)
Give the cilantro a rough chop and add it to the pot.
Next, cut the stem off of the jalapeņo, split it in half length-wise, and toss it in. You don't want to de-seed or core it- it all goes in. Add another if you want more heat, I find one large one is generally enough. It doesn't burn your face off, but it adds the right amount of kick.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Since I've started watching a lot of Food Network TV I've gotten away from precise measurements and adopted the "toss in a handful" method of seasoning and it seems to serve me well.
Put the crockpot on 'High' for 3 or 4 hours, then turn it to 'Low' for a few more.
Traditionally these would be ladled up into small bowls and served with meals rather than just dumped on a plate where you would lose all the liquid- think of it more as a soup than a pile of beans.
Works well with any Mexican dish (of course), but is equally at home with ribs, brisket, etc. (and is light years ahead of opening up a can of "Ranch-Style Beans" from the grocery store).
Enjoy!!
(And thanks, Tencha...)
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