Frijoles de Loya (Pinto Beans)

I have never laughed over a dish more than this one. My friend Silvia that was telling me how to make the beans, so I was following her direction until it came to the cooking part. If you know me you know that I love to stir stuff while cooking, it just makes me feel better. I’ve even gotten in trouble at friends houses when I just automatically go over to the stove when they are cooking and give the dish a little stir. So Silvia had me put the beans on the heat and told me not to stir the beans, well this just killed me and two hours later, I was still not allowed to stir the dish! Finally she gave in and told me to give it a stir, so I was laughing and stirred the beans counter-clockwise, for bad luck and just to bug her. I think every time I make this dish I’m just going to laugh out loud!

Frijoles de Loya

1 Pound Pinto Beans
½ Onion, skin removed
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled
3 Cups Beef Stock
1 Tablespoon Salt
2 Strips Bacon, fried and cut into small pieces (optional)
Water

Go through beans very thoroughly to ensure there are not any little pebbles in them, and wash thoroughly. Place beans, onion, garlic, salt, bacon, and beef stock into a large heavy stock pot (about 6 quarts, the beans really expand a ton). Add enough water to the pot to cover the beans by a couple inches. Place on stove and bring to a boil, turn heat down to a simmer and let cook until tender, about 3 hours. As beans are cooking just add more water to ensure they are covered. When beans are nice and tender strain and serve.