PETRANA'S MEATLESS PINTO BEANS

Submitted by Danilo Gurovich

Petrana was Danko Gurovich’s mother. She came from Montenegro to the United States through Ellis Island in 1901. When she and her husband, Elia, landed they were met by a man who spoke Montenegrin. He gave them train tickets to go to Montana, where a job was waiting for them. For the entire time on the train, they only ate ham and eggs, because that was the only food Elia could request in English!

Elia worked in the mines around Helena until 1908, when he heard about a large masonry dam being built in Arizona. Elia was a trained stone mason, so he moved to Miami, Arizona to work on the Roosevelt Dam. When the dam was finished, he settled in Miami and began working at the Miami Copper Company as a blacksmith. Elia saved enough money to purchase a boarding house.

The mines didn’t pay that well and, having to pinch pennies to feed children and boarders, Petrana melded a bean recipe from the old country with the local beans that were available – good old cowboy/Mexican Pinto beans. In what is an early form of Native American/Mediterranean fusion cuisine, here is Petrana’s “meatless” bean recipe, which is now nearly 100 years old. This is similar to a lot of bean recipes, but this is the way it was written down for us, so it’s near and dear to my heart.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound Pinto Beans
• 3 T Butter
• 1/3 C Olive Oil
• 3 C Water
• 1 large white Onion, chopped into slivers
• 5 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 5 Tomatoes, chopped (this is a “home-style dish”, so only peel and seed if your want)
• 1 big Bell Pepper, chopped
• 1 T Chili Powder
• 2 t Salt
• 1 t Pepper
• 1 t ground Cumin
• 1 t dried Oregano

INSTRUCTIONS

• Cover the Beans with water and soak them overnight. Don’t skip this step!
• Melt and brown the Butter in a pot.
• Add the Onions and let them simmer until they’re about halfway to clear.
• Add the Olive Oil and Peppers and let it all cook down.
• Add the Garlic, then the Tomatoes. Tomatoes cook pretty fast, so you need to add them last.
• Add the Salt, Pepper, Cumin and Oregano. Everything should be getting nice and cooked in the bottom of the pot. Don’t let anything burn.
• Drop the fire to warm & toss in the (pre-soaked & drained) Beans and the three cups of Water.
• Bring everything to a boil and then drop the fire down so it is just under a boil.
• Cook until the beans are done. This should take the better part of 3-4 hours. This is an all-day deal. The beans won’t go bad or get over-cooked as long as you keep them covered with water.

COPPER HILLS STYLE

• Throw a big friggin’ Ham Hock in there. Not meatless anymore, but it really brings in some great flavor. Remove hock after cooking.
• Add 1 t Tarragon


ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

• If you want, put it all in a crock pot and let it cook for 8-10 hours.
• Throw in some julienned Green Chilies. My faves are Big Jim’s from New Mexico. Go on, be brave and enjoy!
• Add more herbs like Thyme, Tarragon, Chervil or whatever you like. Don’t get too crazy or you lose the bean taste in the mix.
• Beer is a good substitute for Water.

EDITOR’S NOTE: T (big T) = Tablespoon, t (little t) = teaspoon, C = cup