Borracho beans from Amá: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen (page 145) by Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock

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Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • chawkins on June 12, 2025

    This was good with a bit of doctoring. I had to use red kidney beans for the cranberry beans. Used 6 slices of thick bacon and blotted off some of the fat. Added 1/4 tsp of untoasted cumin powder(will double or triple the amount called for next time), a tsp of kosher salt, no salt was included in the ingredients. Had trouble charring the pasilla chile on the open fire, it just caught on fire. After simmering for 2.5 hrs, the beans were creamy but still very soupy and the diced tomatoes and the pieces of pasillas were still distinguishable, so I removed the lid and turned up the heat a bit and added the salt. An hour later, the tomato dices and pasilla pieces dissolved into the cooking liquid which also cooked down nicely.

  • lholtzman on March 23, 2024

    In the future I won’t add the tomatoes until the end. My beans took a long time to cook and didn’t get as soft as I like. The acidity of of the tomatoes can slow or hinder the cooking. Also, I made these vegetarian. I omitted the bacon and used 2 tbsps of olive oil. If you do this, add 1 tsp kosher salt (I used Morton’s) or salt to taste, otherwise it will be extremely under seasoned.

  • fultre on January 17, 2023

    We enjoyed these beans, but really used the recipe as a jumping off point based on the ingredients I had on hand. Used Rancho Gordo cranberry beans, much less (turkey) bacon, much less lager, guajillo instead of pasilla chile, 1 can diced tomatoes instead of fresh, dried oregano in lieu of fresh, and fresh thyme instead of rosemary. Didn’t soak the beans, simmered them with water and a bit of salt for awhile, then cooked the extras in a sauté pan, and added them to the pot of beans and finished cooking. Next time I’ll increase the cumin, and likely use pre-ground.

  • allisonsemele on April 20, 2021

    I liked this a lot--with the beer, chile, and cumin, it reminds me a bit of chili. The beer and bacon add a lot of flavor. Would make this again.

  • SweetLittleBytes on January 21, 2021

    I used pinto beans since cranberry beans weren't available to me. This recipe makes a lot but freezes very well.

  • southerncooker on September 25, 2020

    Good but I did have to add salt. Looking forward to using leftovers in a few more recipes.

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 28, 2020

    These were great, although need salt, which I don’t think the recipe mentions! I also cooked them for about 3 hours, adding some veggie stock I had that needed using up. Served with cheese, avocado, and flour tortillas.

  • purrviciouz on July 18, 2020

    Delicious, I ground the chili along with the cumin and used about 3x the cumin. Frenchfoodie's descriptions is perfect, it's a solid bean recipe.

  • Frenchfoodie on May 17, 2020

    Good solid bean recipe. Made with mogette as had no (have never seen..) cranberry beans. Nice savoury flavour from the beer but not ‘beery’. Will happily make again.

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