Frijoles Costeños con Epazote

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-quart clay olla or heavy Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal for toasting avocado leaves
• •Wooden spoon
• •Small skillet for frying garlic in lard

Instructions

1. 1

   Pick the beans

   Spread the black beans on a tray and remove stones, broken beans, and anything that does not belong in the pot. Rinse well. Do not skip this because you trust the bag. Ask the women at the market: beans are field food, and field food carries bits of the field.

2. 2

   Start the pot

   Put the beans in a clay bean pot or heavy Dutch oven with 8 cups water, the half onion, 2 whole garlic cloves, the toasted avocado leaves, and the whole chile costeño rojo. Bring to a gentle simmer. The chile is there for depth, not for punishment. Not all Mexican food is trying to burn your mouth.

3. 3

   Simmer slowly

   Cook uncovered or loosely covered over low heat for 1 hour and 30 minutes, adding hot water when the beans start showing above the surface. The broth should stay dark and moving, not dry and angry. Stir from the bottom now and then so the beans cook evenly.

4. 4

   Add the epazote

   When the beans are almost tender, add the fresh epazote sprig and 1 teaspoon salt. Epazote goes in late because its flavor turns dull if you punish it for two hours. Cook 30 to 45 minutes more, until the beans are soft inside and the broth has body.

5. 5

   Fry the garlic

   In a small skillet, melt the manteca de cerdo over medium heat. Add the 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and cook until pale gold, not brown. Pour in one ladle of bean broth carefully, stir, then scrape everything back into the bean pot. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil gives you grease. Lard gives you memory.

6. 6

   Thicken the broth

   Mash one cup of beans against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon and stir them back into the broth. Simmer 10 minutes more. You want beans that are brothy but not watery, thick enough to coat a tortilla when you drag it through the cazuela.

7. 7

   Serve from clay

   Remove the onion, spent garlic cloves, avocado leaves, and chile if you do not want them at the table. Taste for salt. Serve the beans in the clay cazuela with crumbled queso de cincho and warm handmade corn tortillas. Nothing more is needed. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh dried beans. If the beans have been sitting in a supermarket warehouse for three years, they will take forever and still cook unevenly. Buy from a mercado with turnover.
• •Hoja de aguacate matters here. Toast it lightly on a comal until fragrant before it goes into the pot. If you cannot find it, leave it out and know what you are missing: a soft anise-like perfume that belongs to southern Mexican beans.
• •The chile costeño rojo should season the broth, not turn this into a chile stew. Costa Chica beans are about depth, smoke, herb, and broth.
• •Queso de cincho is salty and firm, common in Guerrero and neighboring regions. If you cannot find it, use a dry, salty queso añejo as a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Do not serve these with flour tortillas. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. On the Costa Chica, bring warm corn tortillas to the table.

Advance Preparation

• •The beans can be cooked one day ahead. They thicken overnight and taste better the next day.
• •If reheating, add a splash of water and warm slowly over low heat so the beans do not scorch on the bottom.
• •You can pick and rinse the beans the night before. Soaking is optional for fresh beans, useful for older beans.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)