Canning is great fun, especially when experimenting with different recipes and flavor combinations. We just canned up some chicken, and I did some test jars of smokey, taco, bbq, Southwestern, and curry chicken. Here are the jars I prepared before filling with chicken.

I am dying to pop these open to savor a sample. While canning that batch, I threw in a pint of spicy Southwestern pinto beans. We were having a pint of my taco meat for dinner one night, and need to add some bulk, so I decided to try the pintos.

It was love at first bite. The pinto beans had just the right spice, and a bit of smokiness from the cumin. My husband said these beans are something you would find in a boutique food store, if you could find them at all.  The neat thing about canning, is you can create your own flavor combinations.

I bought a giant box of jalapenos a few years ago, and dehydrated a bunch. One thin sliver packs a punch.

I use one jalapeno sliver for a pint, and two for a quart. Just use a fresh sliver of jalapeno if you don’t have deyhdrated. Of course, these are your beans, so add the level of spice which fits your tastes! Just remember, the seeds make jalapenos hotter, so remove if you want a milder bite. I did an extra step which is not necessary, but if you have pork fat laying around you can add about a TBSP worth. We canned pork, and had some handy.

I can my beans without soaking first. You should know this is not how the government says beans should be canned, and they suggest beans should be soaked first. Along with many other experienced canners, I can mine from dry and you can read my previous post here to see why. As always, you should make canning decisions on your own.

Here are pictures of before going in the canner, and after.

 

Spicy Southwestern Pinto Beans

These instructions are for quarts. For pints, halve the ingredients.

To each jar, add:

1 cup of rinsed, dry pinto beans
1 tsp salt
2 slivers jalapenos
1/2 tsp cumin, or to taste
1 sliver of garlic
1 very small cube (no more than TBSP worth) of pork fat (optional)

After adding all ingredients to the jar, fill with water leaving 1 inch head space. Can at 10 pounds for 90 minutes for quarts, 75 minutes for pints.