Beans and Roasted Salsa

What a Way to Start the New Year!

I don’t know about you, but after the holidays, I chill out on cooking for awhile. I’m still cooking, but I keep things very simple. I suppose I’m kind of recharging. After a couple of weeks I’m raring to go and I find that spending several hours cooking a meal is thoroughly enjoyable. But first and foremost, that meal must be worth the time and effort.  

There are plenty of satisfying meals to cook that don’t require much in the way of energy or thought. And we all need to have several or more of them in our repertoire for those days when time is an issue. 

But for the weekend or days when you’ve got more time to spend creating something truly delicious, this recipe is a standout. I see no point in multiple steps or elements in a recipe unless they serve a distinct purpose. Unnecessary and fiddly details annoy me to no end. I promise you that each detail in this provides a whole lot of bang for your buck, so to speak.

I had a pound of Rancho Gordo’s California Corona beans, one of my top 3 favorite beans, and I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what I wanted to do with them. These beans are huge, thin skinned, and creamy. Their large size plays a big role in how I like to eat them. One bean per mouthful means I want plenty of other stuff going on that will both showcase and enhance the enjoyment of eating these beauties. A roasted salsa popped into my mind and the more I thought about it the more I liked it.

First, I slow cooked the beans in a 275° oven for about 5 hours. I seasoned them with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, dried chilies, an onion, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Long and slow is really important with these particular beans because more vigorous cooking would cause the skins to break before the insides were fully cooked. So, get the beans settled in the oven and you can forget about them for several hours. You could even make the beans a day or two beforehand. 

Then I chopped up poblano and Anaheim chili peppers, tomatillos, and Roma tomatoes. After tossing the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper, I roasted them in a hot oven for a half hour. A quick word about the kind of pan I used. I have a 12 inch round enameled cast iron brasier with a 4 quart capacity that was perfect here, but any 3-4 quart roasting pan would work well. Just make sure the sides aren’t too shallow. In other words, don’t use a sheet pan.

I added the drained beans, along with a little of their liquid, covered the pan, and popped it back in the oven for 10 minutes. At that point I topped it with a combination of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and back into the oven it went for only a few minutes – just long enough for the cheese to melt.

As you can see, none of this has been particularly time consuming. The beans take hours to cook, but they’re hands off, and the roasted salsa is easy as can be to make. 

I knew I needed something fresh, sharp, and bright to balance out the deep flavors and make this come alive when I bit into it. I remembered the green sauce Peruvians serve with their roast chicken and thought something similar would be good with my beans and roast salsa. 

I made this very easy on myself. No, it is not at all the same as the Peruvian sauce, it is only inspired by that sauce. I blitzed fresh cilantro, serrano peppers, lime juice, cider vinegar, a spoonful of plain yogurt, salt, a little sugar, and olive oil with my immersion blender until I had a smooth and creamy sauce that was extremely 

Now, seeing as how I was all in on this meal, I made the call to fry up tortilla chips, rather than using the store bought versions. Look, there is nothing wrong with a bag of tortilla chips. But, do they even remotely compare to freshly fried tortilla chips? No, they don’t. And I felt like I had something so delicious going on here that I only wanted to really give it what it deserved.

I’m not including directions in my recipe for frying tortilla chips because it’s a no-brainer. Here’s all you need to know. Buy a pack of corn tortillas (no, I didn’t feel the need to make my own tortillas). Cut the tortillas into quarters. Make as many as you think you’ll eat. This will vary, depending on how many people you’re serving. Since I was at it, I went ahead and fried up the whole package because these keep well and I knew my family would enjoy them. 

Heat up between a quarter inch and half inch of neutral vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat until it reaches 350°. Fry about 4 chips at a time, turning them after a minute or so and continuing to fry for another minute or 2 until they’re nicely browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate and continue in this manner until they’re all fried, adding more layers of paper towels as you go along. 

One of the main reasons these tortilla chips are so much better than store bought is because I let them cook until they’re deeply browned. This is where the flavor lies. Of course, you don’t want to burn them, but letting them cook until they’ve developed that rich brown color is key to their deliciousness. 

After the cheese has melted on the beans, I spooned on Mexican crema for some milky tanginess, drizzled on the Cilantro Sauce, and sprinkled Aleppo chili flakes over all of it. I put the pan in the middle of the table, we spooned out our servings and offered additional crema and Cilantro Sauce. 

I can pretty well tell what a recipe will taste like before it goes into my mouth, but this one surpassed my expectations. The first bite blew me out of the water. It’s so deeply satisfying because of both the depth of the flavors and the brightness of the sauce. We had plenty of leftovers and if anything, it was even better reheated. 

I fully understand that there are days where the thought of frying up those tortilla chips is really a bridge too far and I get it. Just buy a bag and call it done. But if you’re so inclined they really are superb and they definitely contribute to the overall greatness of this recipe. 

Well, there you have it, folks. 4 elements – beans, salsa, cilantro sauce, and fried tortilla chips. None of them are difficult, and I promise that each one holds its weight and is essential to the delicious end result.