I would love to season my pinto beans to taste like Cracker Barrel restaurant. Anyone got any suggestions?

I found this at CDKITCHENS.COM.

I hope it works

1 pound ham hocks
1 tablespoon sugar
Water -- to cover
2 cups dry pinto beans -- sorted
8 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt



Directions:

Cook ham hocks and sugar covered with water. Cook on simmer for a couple hours.

When meat is tender pull apart with 2 forks to separate meat from fat, skin and bones. Return meat to broth and store in freezer till bean day.

Wash and sort dry pinto beans. Add beans to pot with 8 cups water, the salt and the ham with broth from above. Bring to boil, cover and simmer about 3 hours or until tender.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Cracker Barrel Pinto Beans serves/makes 10

Sounds like an easy delicious recipe.

I wonder though ????ham PLUS more salt????

I'd be careful with that.

Sounds good, although I do not salt beans when I put ham/ham bone in. The salt is just right that way. I never thought about cooking the ham bones first.

Soak your beans overnight in water and pour off. Put them on to boil with water and a lid. Do not stir often. When they start to get soft then put in ham, salt pork, onions, garlic powder and fresh cilantro. Cook awhile longer. I use very little salt pork because of high blood pressure. Had beans at Cracker Barrel last week and they are definitely too salty for someone with high blood pressure. This recipe is a little different but good and less salt.

I don't know what the Cracker Barrel's beans taste like, but I usually cook mine in de-fatted chicken stock, with an onion and then add chopped cilantro when they are done. This is what I call my "healthy beans" because I am not using any fatty meat for seasoning, and they are really tasty. On the other hand, my favorite beans are cooked with salt pork. While I know that is not a healthy way to cook beans, I still cook them that way, once in a while......not often, but maybe once a year or so. When I use salt pork, I sometimes add an onion.

quick and easy,. rinse the beans, put in a large bowl and cover with water ,add extra because the beans soak up the water, then leave in the frig,overnight,do this part , because they can spoil if left sitting out, [ i know this to be true], next day rinse again, put in large pot, with your ham hock,lots of water, and cook on med. heat, check on them often to see if you need to add anymore water, and simmer 2-3 hrs. then taste to see if you need the salt. i take the ham hocks out and pull it apart to see if there's any meat to put back in the pot, if not ,i might add some ham bits i keep in small bags in the freezer, this is not hard to do, and it's good.!!!! oh, you can parboil the beans too, bring the beans to a boil, turn off heat, let them sit 5 minutes, then rinse and cook as directions above.

You can also add some garlic. My late mother-in-law (from Louisiana) always added about a tsp of baking soda to a pot of beans when all the ingredients are cooking together -- it's supposed to help with that unpleasant side effects of beans .... toot toot! :thumbup:

I add Adobo and red chili powder to my pintos. I rinse the beans and pick out all discolored, wrinkled and broken beans. I put them in the crock pot with a ham hock, Adobo seasoning and red chili powder. I add a chopped onion and a finely diced garlic clove and cook on low for 8 hours. Make sure the beans are completely covered with water the entire time or the beans on the top will darken.

Ham hocks are the secret!!!!!!

I use cumin is the spice for pinto beans, although I have never had them at cracker barrel, use 1/2 c catsup, 1 can tomatoe sauce and also crumbled bacon. You will have to adjust for size of recipe, but I always make for a crowd.

Hi, I make my beans with no ham hock or meat of any kind. They are just plain mexican beans. I add a half onion on the bottom of the pot. sort beans rinse and put in the pot. I do not soak them. I add 1 tsp garlic, cilantro, oregano (dry) cumin pepper and salt. And I also add a small amount of olive oil. Let them cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I use a mexican crock pot that cooks on the stove. Try this recipe you will like. Maria

when i cook a ham i save the fat and scraps in baggies for beans per pot.
i sort and wash my beans,put into water add a bag of ham scraps and pressure cook them for 2 hours on low after pressure is up. then i salt to taste let them cook down for a while then i add my green chili. cool and put up in zip-lock bags per serving. i also make my sopias and seal them in bags. when i want a bowl i micro the beans, warm the sopias in a toster oven and peal my green onions. a feast for sure.
phyllis nm

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Thanks everyone for the great recipes. Nothing is as good as a pot of beans and cornbread for dinner.

We have altitude problems here cooking beans. If you don't soak them overnight with 1 tsp baking soda, you have little rocks no matter how long you cook them. With soaking they are fine. Go figure

If at all possible, buy the pinto beans grown in the Four Corners area. They are sold out of Cortez, Colorado and do really well at high altitude but are wonderful at any altitude.

Ditto