Smoky Cider-Stewed Beans with Apple and Chorizo and the Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries

sunday night special
notes from maggie's farm

We recently celebrated a family birthday by taking a road trip to San Benito, in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, near the Mexico border.

Our visit was two-fold: to share the blessings of a sister church for their Fiesta de la Gratitud and to deliver a large basket of beans and rice that our church, First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, in Burnet, collected in preparation for and in response to our planned trip.  We were to meet with Filiberto Pereira of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries and deliver our offering to their Rice and Beans Project.

To celebrate our adventure-filled, successful birthday road trip, and in honor of the special time we shared with our friends in the Valley, we prepared our own little gratitude feast upon our return home.  Over recollections of a most eventful 24 hours of food, fellowship and fun from San Antonio, San Benito, South Padre Island, Weslaco, on the Border, and then back home, we celebrated with Cumin Lime-Brined Chicken, Chile Cheese Corn Muffins, and, the final recipe we share today,

Smoky Cider-Stewed Beans with Apple and Chorizo


serves 6 for entree or 12 for side dish


1 lb pinto or red beans

2 small or 1 medium onions, chopped

1 cup apple cider

2 medium cooking apples (see chart below for best apples with which to cook) cored and chopped

8 cups water or chicken or vegetable stock, (more or less—see recipe)

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 cloves garlic, minced

kosher salt, to taste

2 tablespoons fresh oregano, minced, divided

1 smoked ham hock

8 oz spanish chorizo, sliced 1/4" thick

lime wedges

cooked white rice

1 bunch sliced scallions, with 2 tablespoons reserved for garnish

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Ingredient Notes—

Onions—yellow, sweet, white, red, or whatever's on hand

Cooking Apples—see chart below for best apples with which to cook

Smoked Paprika--I used a mixture of sweet and hot smoked paprika's.  For no heat at all, use all sweet.  If you're a spicy kinda gal or guy, use all hot. To learn more, visit this link.

Spanish Chorizo is a much different product than Mexican Chorizo.  See this link to learn the difference.

Rinse and sort dried beans.  Cover with water by *double the volume.  Bring to a hard boil, then remove from heat.  Let sit, covered, for 1 hour.  (Alternatively, cover with water by double the volume of water and cover to let soak overnight) Drain, rinse, return to stock pot or dutch oven. 

Add cider, chopped onions and apples, ham hock, minced garlic, and salt (beginning with 1 T), and 1 tablespoon oregano to soaked and drained beans.  Cover with water or stock, keeping liquid level around two inches above the beans.  

  

Cook at medium heat (a high simmer, or low boil) covered, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours, adding water to keep covered by two inches as needed. 

Add chorizo, smoked paprika, and additional salt, if needed, and reduce to full simmer.  Cook for an additional hour. (If you like beans with a little "brothier" like I do, you will probably want to continue to add more liquid during this time.  If you like a thicker pot of beans, you can allow the liquid to become absorbed.) Stir in remaining tablespoon of chopped fresh oregano, sliced scallions and adjust smoked paprika and salt,  to taste.  Simmer for ten minutes, covered

.

Serve over cooked white rice, garnished with lime wedges and sliced scallion.  We used this as an accompaniment to Cumin Lime-Brined Chicken, and Chile Cheese Corn Muffins, but it would fare quite well as a main dish, served with corn muffins, and perhaps this Avocado Tomato and Corn Salad.

* if your beans are approximately 2 inches deep in the pot, add water to cover plus 2 inches more.

About:
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries

The Rice and Beans Project provides emergency food for the hungry in the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico. Disciples Rice was founded by the late Frank Mabee, a minister and friend of founder Feliberto Pereira. It’s a ministry that has fed hundreds of thousands of refugees, orphans, and members of impoverished communities in Texas and Mexico over the past twenty-five years. In 1992, the High Plains Area of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), located in the Texas Panhandle, initiated the Disciples Beans program, contributing funds to purchase 30,000 pounds of pinto beans—a truckload of needed protein for hungry refugees. Today, the beans and rice programs provide 90,000 pounds of these basic stables to needy families, isolated villages and orphanages and childrens' homes on both sides of the U.S. and Mexico border.

In the words of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries:

While our ministry primarily serves political refugees who are seeking safety from persecution in their home countries, our ministry has expanded to serve the needs of the poor—from emergency food, clothing and health kits to programs for young mothers and their babies. We build small homes through our Casita Project in the colonias of Matamoros, Mexico where we also help operate the Casa Bethel orphanage. We believe in educating all of God's people, and we do so through assisting with high school and college tuition support for students and through a Bible Institute in Monterrey, Mexico.

If you wish to serve God's people in need along the Texas/Mexico border, we welcome your support and mission work. If you have never stayed with us on a mission trip, we invite you to reserve a time to join us. We welcome you!

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 Cooking Apples

NAME	Best Uses	Flavor Characteristic, Appearance
Braeburn	Sauce	Tart, sweet, aromatic, tall shape, bright color
Cortland	Pies, Sauces, Fruit Salad	Tart, crisp, larger than 'McIntosh'
Fuji	Baking	Sweet and juicy, firm, red skin
Gala	Dried, Cider	Mild, sweet, juicy, crisp, yellow-orange skin with red striping (resembles a peach)
Granny Smith	Baking	Moderately sweet, crisp flesh, green skin
Jonagold	Pie, Sauce	Tangy-sweet, Yellow top, red bottom
Jonathan	Sauce	Tart flesh, crisp, juicy, bright red on yellow skin
McIntosh	Sauce	Juicy, sweet, pinkish-white flesh, red skin
Newton Pippin	Pie, Sauce, Cider	Sweet-tart flesh, crisp, greenish-yellow skin
Rhode Island Greening	Pie	Very tart, distinctively flavored, grass-green skin, tending toward yellow/orange
Rome Beauty	Baking, Cider	Mildly tart, crisp, greenish-white flesh, thick skin
Winesap	Sauce, Pie, Cider	Very juicy, sweet-sour flavor, winey, aromatic, sturdy, red skin