Drunken Eye of the Goat

Drunken Eye of the Goat beans

Happy New Year!  I am posting a recipe for Drunken Eye of the Goat.  No, I am not crazy and eating goat's eyes....ha ha....I am still a vegetarian.    Eye of the Goat is an heirloom bean.  My hubby got a super awesome gift from his boss for Christmas.  It was a bag with  4 packages of heirloom beans and a bottle of New Mexico Chili Powder from Rancho Gordo, Napa Valley, California.  You can order on-line from this company or look for their products at a farmers market or any specialty store listed here.  One type of the heirloom beans we received was the 1 lb. Eye of the Goat or Ojo de Cabra beans.   I was racking my brain and searching for recipes to make something out of these beans.

Finally, I decided that the Eye of the Goat beans are similar to pinto beans.  I decided to make 'Drunken Beans' and came out with the recipe below.  The word 'drunken' also came to my mind since it is close to New Year (not that I am going to be drunk eating this bean dish).  These beans were cooked in beer (can be non-alcoholic).  Hence, we found out that it is also good to eat this dish with a bottle of beer (maybe that's how people got drunk eating this dish, ha!). 

One thing that is really important is to SOAK the dry beans overnight.  Here is a picture of the Eye of the Goat beans after soaking overnight.  This heirloom bean doesn't come in uniform sizes.  One bean can be smaller than the other.  It is kind of odd looking bean and kind of pretty too.

Soaked Eye of the Goat beans

Drunken Eye of the Goat
Serve: 6-8
I used a slow-cooker but a slow cooking method on the stove can be done also.

1 lb. Eye of the Goat beans or regular pinto beans, dry
1 piece of kombu, 2 by 3 inches
Note:  This is for cooking the bean, to add nutrients and improve digestibility i.e. reduce intestinal gas
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
6 slices Veggie Bacon (I use Lightlife Smart Bacon), chopped in small pieces
1 tsp. Chipotle chili powder (can use 1/2 tsp for less spicy)
1 tsp. New Mexican Red Chili Powder
Note:  you can buy any New Mexico red chili powder in hispanic market
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
3 tsp. dried oregano leaves
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. canola oil + 2 tsp. sesame oil or 4 tsp. canola oil
12 oz. (a bottle) beer (can be non-alcoholic)
10 oz. Ro-Tel (diced tomatoes with green chilies in a can), include the juice
Note:  you can use any other diced tomatoes with green chilies.  It's just that I like to use this smaller can of diced tomatoes for the beans.
 1 cup vegetable broth or broth from cooking beans
salt to taste   
Note: I was very careful with the salt since the  veggie bacon, ro-tel, and vegetable broth have a lot of salt in it already.  I  used just about 1/2 tsp salt.  Please taste first before adding more salt..

Sauteed onions, garlic, veggie bacon, and spices

1. First and foremost, SOAK the beans overnight (as I mentioned above).
2. Drain the soaked beans and place in a  pot, add water so that the water level is about 1/2 inch above the beans.  Add the kombu into it.  Do not add salt to the water.  Heat in high temperature.  When it starts boiling, start your timer and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.  Turn it off and set aside.
3.  While the beans are simmering, saute onions, garlic, and chopped veggie bacon in medium high for 5 minutes.
4. Add chipotle powder, New Mexican Red Chili Powder, Smoked Paprika, dried oregano leaves, and ground cumin.  Saute for another 10 minutes in a low heat.  Set aside and turn off the heat. 
5. Prepare your slow cooker or cooking pot.  Drain beans (save the bean cooking water) and place them in the ceramic bowl of your slow cooker or the cooking pot.  Add the Ro-Tel tomatoes and beer.  Then, add the sauted veggie bacon, onions, garlic, and spices mixture.  Combine thoroughly.
6. Pour some of the bean broth or vegetable broth over your pan to pick up or scrape the bits and pieces of onions or veggie bacon that stuck to the pan. 
7. Add enough vegetable broth or bean cooking broth to cover the beans (I added about 1 cup). 
8. Do not add salt  at this time but simmer this mixture until beans are tender.  If using a slow cooker, cook 6 hours on high or 8 - 10 hours on low.
9. When beans are tender, taste for salt and add as necessary.
10. Finally, I use a potato masher  to smash the beans (I only do it about 10 times) but do not smash all of them so some beans are still whole and some are smashed.  Then stir to combine.  This is a trick I use when cooking beans so that the beans are creamier and the bean flavor comes out to the pot liquor(bean broth).   But some people like their beans whole.  If you are those people, you can omit this step.

I can say that this is the BEST bean dish I have ever cooked.   We ate it with soy chicken mole.  Serving it, I started with warm and soft corn tortilla, add drunken beans on top, add soy chicken mole, and topped with fresh sliced avocado.  I served it with a side salad and a bottle of beer (red ale O'Doul).  It was really YUMMO!  You can also serve it with hot cornbread and a side salad or even brown rice (rice and beans is the perfect meal).

Drunken beans topped with soy chicken mole and avocado

 I would like to thank hubby's boss for this treat, for teaching us about heirloom beans, and for showing us the website where to buy them.  We both thoroughly enjoyed this dish.  It was the best Christmas gift we received this year.  I didn't know that heirloom beans can be so good.  If you are into beans, I recommend visiting this Rancho Gordo site  and read all about heirloom beans.  They are pretty interesting, pretty to look, and delicious. Other than the Eye of the Goat, we received 1 lb. each of Ayocote NEGRO (Black Runner Beans),  Good Mother Stallard beans, and Runner Cannellini beans.   Anyone has any idea or recipe to cook them?  Let me know and I will blog it.  :-)