Got this from a chef a long time ago – I drag it out and do it every once in awhile . . .

Magic in a Crock pot!!

Soak a pound of pinto beans over night ( or longer – up to 24 hrs won’t hurt a thing!! )

Ready?? Here we go . . .

Dice 1/2 pound of bacon – either pepper bacon or throw 2 teaspoons of coarse ground black pepper in when you brown it

Slice a serrano pepper ( or two ! ) lengthwise and scoop out the seeds

dice a medium onion and the pepper(s)

When the bacon is close to brown – add onion and pepper to skillet

Meanwhile chop up about 1/2 bunch of cilantro – and chop it up real fine – after you are done chopping it – run the knife through it two more times – it needs to be chopped fine – you want to end up somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 cup chopped

put the cilantro and a short 1/4 cup of garlic in the skillet . . .

Keep everything moving in the skillet – do not let the either the garlic or the cilantro brown – both will turn bitter if browned – you only want 30 seconds to 1 minute in the skillet – you are just releasing the flavor (oils) – dump it all in the crock pot.

Drain the beans and put them in the crock pot . . .

De glaze the skillet with 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth and pour into the crock pot

pour a bottle of Mexican beer ( 12 oz ) – Corona – XX – the different ones will add different flavors – experiment!! – I like XX myself

add 1/2 teaspoon or so of black pepper and 1 1/2 or so teaspoons of salt

set on low – lid on – and check at about 5 hrs or so . . . total cook time in the crock pot about 8 hrs or so

Hey! Quit looking at it and put the lid on!!

You may need to add a little chicken broth at the 5 hr mark – you don’t want the beans to dry out – you want them doing the floaty thing start to finish !! This particular batch I added just over 1/2 cup of broth at 5 hrs . . . and speaking of finish . . .

Over rice or cornbread or use them to make re-fried beans or just put them in a bowl as a side – really good stuff – and the crock pot chugs along for 8 hrs or so and does all the magic!!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are not the only thing I can cook!!