Years ago Sherry gave me a book entitled Adventures in Mexican Cooking; Ortho Books, 1978. (Ortho was a division of Chevron Chemical Company, of all things.) In it was a very simple bean recipe that called for simply 4 cups of beans; 8 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of salt, and two tablespoons of oil or lard.

I jazzed it up a bit with chicken bouillon, and seasonings, and did them in a 4-quart crockpot. I must say, they turned out very tasty!

Ingredients

1 lb dried pinto beans
2 packets Herb-Ox Sodium Free Chicken Bouillon
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 – 1 tsp black pepper
1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 – 1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 – 1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
Worcestershire Sauce (a couple of good shots)
Hot Sauce (a good shot)
corn tortillas (optional)
grated cheese to garnish

Directions

Rinse beans well and place in cooker. Add enough water to cover by a couple or three inches. Add all the other ingredients and stir to blend. Cook on either high or low; depending on time. The Mexican recipe called for cooking on a stop top at a simmer for 2 hours. Toward the end of the cooking time, I was making myself a quesadilla when I discovered that my brand new pack of tortillas had several already broken. Rather then feed them to the dog, I tossed them into the bean pot. After a while, they began to disintegrate, and I stirred them until they blended into the bean soup.

These beans are VERY good!

Special Note for my use: 2 cups of beans with 8 cups of water is TOO big for my 2 quart slow cooker, and too little for my 4 quart slow cooker.