Prairie Fire

I have experienced much debate from my friends as how to serve this. Weather I should serve it either as a dip with chips, or to roll it up in tortillas, or just spoon it into a bowl. So to keep the peace when we serve this dish now we set it up for whatever may be desired.  My favorite is to roll it up into burritos, Patti prefers a bowl and spoon. These are creamy, tender beans with a thick, rich cheddar cheese sauce. I never have any complaints and very little leftovers. So grab the Tabasco and set to…

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

A Dusting of Tabasco

Ingredients:

1 lb. pinto beans

1 lb. pork sausage

1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded

2 large ham hocks

2 large sweet onions

2 small cans diced green chilies

3 beef bouillon cubes                        

1 lb. butter

2 Tbs. ground garlic

2 Tbs. ground cumin

3 Tbs. red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook beans in a large pot as you would do any beans. Add ham hock/hocks, bouillon, red pepper and cumin. Simmer about 2 hours adding water as needed.

Fry sausage and drain the grease. Add to beans along with the garlic.

Continue cooking until the beans are tender and the soup is reduced and thick. You don’t want a lot of soup here; you may need to drain some off near the end. Pull the hocks out, bone and string them, then returning them to pot.

When beans are tender with just enough sauce that the beans are not dry, cube your cheese and butter. Dice the onions and add to pot with the green chilies.

 Keeping low heat, melt cheese and butter into a nice, thick sauce.

Serve in bowls with chips and tortillas on the side along with lots of cold beer (Patti likes a well chilled Chablis, I guess you can take the girl out of the city, but…) and Tabasco sauce.

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste.

Take it and run with it….

Enjoy,

Ken & Patti