Cowboy Beans

I lost the recipe for this, but it is pretty darn simple so just follow along :) Plus it was so good I HAD to share it. First thing, get your oven preheated to 400 degrees and lets gather some ingredients.




You will need a beer, garlic, ketchup, liquid smoke if you've got it, pepper, tabasco, cider vinegar, beef jerky, a can of pinto beans, flour, onion, ground meat, ground mustard and some salt and pepper. You will also need a tomato and some brown sugar, but those didn't quite make it to the picture.

So lets get prepping!




Chop the onion, about 2 tablespoons.




Drain and rinse your beans.




Chop up one clove of garlic.




You want the beef jerky in small pieces and its impossible to cut with a knife, but scissors work great. You want about an ounce or so.




Measure out 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (or more if you like your beans on the sweeter side) and chop your tomato. You may also want to measure out your flour at this point, you need about a teaspoon.




Ok so lets start cooking. In an oven proof pan, start browning your ground meat, its half a pound in this recipe. I used some pork. You only want to cook for about a minute, until it loses its raw look.




Add in the onion and cook for another minute. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 10 seconds stirring constantly.




Stir in the flour and let that cook for about 30 seconds. Stir it well then cook for a minute.




Add in the beef jerky and the tomato and give it a stir. Let that cook for about 2 minutes.




Add in 2 tablespoons of ketchup, a teaspoon of vinegar, 1/4 teaspoons of liquid smoke, a dash of tabasco, the brown sugar, a dash of mustard powder and the salt and pepper. Let those flavors combine for a minute or two then its time to bring on the beer and the beans.




Stir in the beer and get everything nice and combined. When it is all stirred up, let it simmer for about 3 minutes then get it in the oven.




Let it cook up in the oven for about an hour or until you can no longer wait another minute because it smells so good. Give it a stir from time to time to keep it from sticking.




Dish it up and serve it with a nice cold can of beer, just like a cowboy would like it. This particular beer is from Trader Joe's, one of my favorite stores. This is a perfect meal for a chilly fall day, I hope you give it a try!