The official start to this year’s autumn season began just a few days ago, September twenty-three. The temperatures are slowly dropping in many areas of the Northern Hemisphere and people are starting to spend more time indoors. For me, autumn and cooler temperatures mean hearty stews and soups. Today I’d like to share with you one of my favourite Mexican stews that is perfect for autumn, winter…and even the warmer temperatures of the Tropics.
This scrumptious and hearty bean stew is known as frijoles charro, or cowboy beans. The dish is popular around Mexico and often served at parties and many restaurants. When I was growing up frijoles charros were always a favourite of mine, and today they continue to be so. The Mexican recipes and versions of cowboy beans are quite different than American versions. For starters we don’t use ketchup or barbecue sauces — at least I’ve never seen that in the Mexican charro beans I’ve eaten. There are many recipes for charro beans, it’s almost like every family has their own version — I alone have several that I like to switch between. But you know one of the amazing things about this dish is just that, you can play with the recipe and make it your own. This is one of the reasons why I love frijoles charros so much.
You can find the recipe and more interesting facts about Mexican frijoles charros in the article I wrote for my Spicy Food website on About.com. By the way, thank you so much for all of the supportive messages regarding this new and exciting chapter of Spicie Foodie.
Stop by for the recipe, I promise you’ll want to get the beans on the stove right away. As we say in Mexico, buen provecho or bon appetite!
A beautiful dish! Very tasty, comforting and wholesome. Just what the doctor ordered!
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you Rosa!
I always want beans , especially when they look like that!
I hope you give them a try sometime. Thanks, Tania!
The stew looks scrumptious!!! Loved the styling and photography!! That green background makes the dish stand out
Thank you Nandita!
This looks really appetising! I love spicy food! Partnered with tortilla, this is a full enjoyable meal!
Gourmet Getaways
Julie, I’m glad you are fellow spicy food lover.:) Thank you!
I must make myself a large batch too. It looks superb!
I would totally devour a big bowl of this lovely soup… perfect for the cooler weather headed my way. :)
I love charro beans! And almost never make them the same way twice — they’re fun to play with, aren’t they? I gotta try your recipe — so good looking! Thanks.
They sure are, that’s why I love them so much. Thank you John!
I would love to have a batch of this in the freezer. This dish would sustain me through lots of dreary winter days.
They freeze great, Sandra so I think it’s a good plan!:)
What a scrumptious looking bowl of beans!!!
My husband loves his Nana’s charro beans BUT I know better than to try to recreate one of her dishes because they’re perfection. So I was looking for a recipe that combined some of my on hand ingredients and this recipe fit the bill.
It is so delicious and combines all of my favorite ingredients. Thank you!