Cowboy Beans! It's what's for Supper!!

Cowboy Beans, one of the all-time favorites (and one of my favorites too)!

Beans settled the Frontier, they did. High in protein and portable without spoilage. The things you can do with some beans are endless!

There are probaby 10,000 recipes for Cowboy Beans...here's mine:

I use a 15 or 16 bean variety, you can get them in the grocery store. Pintos, LImas, Great Northerns, Blacks, Anisazi's, and many more.

You'll need:

Dried beans (1/2 of a package or roughly 1.5 cups) (NOTE: this recipe is for 2-3 people, you can easily double it...more on that at the end)
2- Jalapeno peppers diced
1 - yellow onion diced
3 - Tbs of fresh green cilantro, chopped
1 or 2 - ham hocks, smoked
2 - large clove of garlic, chopped
4oz - Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (not Italian), browned.
1/2C - Rotel roasted tomatoes and green chilies, drained
1/4C - Ketchup
4 - Pheasant breasts sliced and browned (you can use 1-2 breasts of chicken (I just have a freezer full of pheasants and quail)).
1 - Ear of fresh corn, cut off the cob
Hungarian Paprika
1-2 solid dashes of Cajun seasoning (not Cowboy, but it's dang sure good in this dish!)
Salt and black pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or cast iron pot cover the beans with a couple inches of water. Add the ham hock, onions, jalapeno, one clove of garlic and cilantro. Bring to a good boil and boil for solid 30+ minutes. (keep an eye on the water level to make sure it stays over the beans. Add more if necessary). You actually want it to reduce some, just not enough to expose the beans.

In a skillet brown the sausage and the pheasant (or chicken), a little chopped onion and the other clove of garlic. Set aside.

Remove and strain enough liquid to add the meat and maintain the same level in the pot. Add the Cajun seasoning, the Ro-tel, the ketcup, the maters and stir. Then add the meat, and stir again. get everything mixed up good.

NOTE: the ham hocks will still be on the bone, just make sure you've got room in the pot. You're going to cover it soon, so make sure you've got it reduced enough to not constantly boil over. (In a frontier campfire, this wouldn't matter, but on the stove it makes a mess).

NOTE: I add some canned Jalapenos right here, (drained of course) (I like peppers...those who don't can leave this part out)

Shuck the ear of sweet corn and cut the kernels off the cob onto a cutting board. Add the corn to the pot.

Cover and simmer (near boil) for about 90 minutes.

When the ham hocks are falling off the bone it's time to EAT!!

Cornbread goes nice with this dish, but for me just the beans are awesome! It's like a chili that doesn't taste like chili. It's smoky, rich, its got bird in it, sausage in it, smoked ham in it...and lots of delicious beans in it. The beans have soaked up all those flavors, and it's fabulous!

If you make this for friends and/or family, I guarantee there won't be any left after the take-aways!

P.S. So why is this an "Old West" Cowboy dish??? Well, at the turn of the 19th Century everyone had beans, but beans got boring. One bean tastes like another, so people learned to add things to beans. They added what they had, what they could hunt locally, or whatever else was laying around. In reality "Cowboy Beans" is really "Whatcha Got Stew"...and THAT is what makes it the best beans of all! This is just a nice variation on the same.

Enjoy!!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Love them pintos, anytime and anyplace. Cornbread oh yeah.

Great recipe, thanks.

Oops, I said I was going to say something about portion size at the end, and then left it out...

Here's the problem most people have making beans...they make way too much! It's not their fault!!

Beans at the store generally come in 1lb 4oz packages and so people make the whole package. This is a HUGE amount of beans, way too much for even a family of 4 or more. One trick I use is to cut the beans in half (or more). A good serving for 4 is 1/2 of a package of beans, for two even less.

I'm a cast iron nut (owing back to my love of the old west and tradition), so I make all my beans in cast iron pots. One pot I like is my Lodge combo pot. I usually use it for camping, but when it comes to beans I'll use it any time. The nice thing about it is, the lid doubles as a skillet. So when I need to brown something I just do it on the lid, then I cover the pot after adding the ingredients which naturally cleans the skillet with the steam. It's a WIN-WIN!

Another little trick I use is to add all the leftover dried beans to a mason jar, I don't care what kind. It's the best mixture of beans.

Then, when you need some beans, just fill up a cup or so of beans and cook them up and add whatever you want. They cook faster...and they're DEE-LICIOUS!!

"Beans, Beans, they're good for your heart; the more you eat the more you phart. The more you phart, the better you feel, so eat your beans at every meal!"

So, do beans make you phart? Ummmm, not really. Mushrooms are worse. Beans have a lot of fiber in them, and fiber is good for us. Sorry ninny's, but so is passing gas. It's good for you. Eat Kale and you're gonna' phart, so why not eat something 85,000 times BETTER than suck-ass kale and know you're eating good in the neighborhood!

Besides, I didn't really want you sleeping in my tent anyways!!!!! So, go enjoy your own aroma somewheres else...and I'll enjoy mine!

That is all!

Enjoy those Cowboy Beans!! (OOOOooooooh, and the Pheasant is really excellent too!!)

P.S. You wanna stink up the place? Add some of those ring sausages from the store to these beans! NOW we're talkin'!!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I've heard of tex mex but cowboy beans? good work.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Cowboy Beans are a staple!

Shor' nuff!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You had me at 'cilantro'. Anyone who has the sentience to put cilantro, onions and garlic in their beans surely must be a deity amongst beanmakers.

I'm from the South so pinto beans & fried potatoes was a staple on our table....some days all that was on our table. Gonna have to try your recipe out when colder weather hits our way. Been hotter than a fresh f---ed fox in a forest fire around here.

real cowboys eat cold beans with a stick.
I always knew you were a fraud.

www.southyourmouth.com...

originally posted by: Rikku
real cowboys eat cold beans with a stick.
I always knew you were a fraud.

LOL!!

Ummmm...

LOLOLOLOL!! (slappin' leg) LOLOLOLOLOL!!

Yep, uhhhhhh, you're, uhhhh, right...I guess!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!

a reply to: pointr97

Those are good, but they're really like Grillin' Beans...pretty BBQ-ey.

These beans are not like anything you've tasted. They're not sweet. They're a stright-up main course.

Try 'em! You'll likey!

I had this on a badge as a kid

Beans , beans they are good
for your heart
The more you eat , the more you fart
The more you fart , the better you feel
Beans , beans for every meal

signed a cowboy

a reply to: stonerwilliam

Granny used to recite it:

beans beans the magical food
the more you eat the more you toot
the more you toot the better your feel
so eat beans for every meal...

a reply to: Tucket

Beans, beans, they'll give you gas
Gas real bad, you can try to pass
Roll the dice, and take the chance
Guess it wrong, and you'll S# your pants

Ewwww. I really dislike cilantro, to me it tastes sort of like gym socks.

a reply to: rickymouse

Well, you could always leave that ingredient out.

Cilantro is an acquired taste. I used to hate the stuff when I was a kid, thought it tasted like soap (sumthin' I was familiar with). Over the years I've grown to really love the stuff. (Cilantro...not the soap! )

O.P your recipie sounds outstanding.Not as Primitive as this one.

www.youtube.com...

originally posted by: rickymouse
Ewwww. I really dislike cilantro, to me it tastes sort of like gym socks.

How many gym socks have you munched