“When I was growing up, my dad often would make a big pot of beans, usually navy, flavored with ham, and offer us kids bowlfuls. He’d eat them all himself, though. We weren’t eating beans. Are you kidding?

Flash forward a number of decades and, of course, I love having a pot of beans on the stove. Whether dad’s favorite or black beans, cannellini or cranberry, a bowl of beans is a welcome comfort.

A recent hankering sent me searching out a recipe for charro beans, a Mexican dish with more complex flavor than the typical refried beans. I’d had them at restaurants, but never cooked them. They prove simple to make, deriving their smoky flavor from a few ingredients. A version from TV cooking show star and cookbook author Pati Jinich, of ‘Pati’s Mexican Table’ on PBS, was just what I wanted…”

To read the entire article, click here.