Eye of the Goat beans

This has nothing to do with Men Who Stare at Goats. It is a pinto-like bean from Rancho Gordo and I used a pound in two more wonderful dishes from Steve Sando's Heirloom Beans.

The first was Posole with Eye of the Goat beans and chicken. I also got the posole -- husked, dried kernels of corn -- from Rancho Gordo. I soaked the beans and 2/3 c. posole (separately) overnight. I cooked the beans for 1-1/2 hrs with chopped onion and garlic sauteed in lard. The posole, following this recipe, I cooked 1/4 chopped onion for a little over 2 hrs (recipe said 3 hrs but they were plenty tender before that). Meanwhile, I slit 3 New Mexico chiles (next time maybe something a little hotter) and removed stems and seeds, roasted them in a skillet then poured boiling water over them and let them soak 30 min. Afterwards, I pureed them with some of the soaking water to "the consistency of buttermilk."

For the final assembly, I thinly sliced 2 more onion quarters and sauteed 3 to 4 min. in 2 Tbl oil with 2 chopped garlic cloves. I added 4 c. chicken broth, 1-1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano, the pureed chiles, and 4 canned tomatoes, chopped. Then I added the posole with 1 c. of the cooking liquid, brought all that to a boil, checked the salt, added 2 c. of cooked beans and simmered 20 min. to blend. Then I added 2 c. (recipe said 1-1/2 c.) of shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken and warmed through. The stew was served with chopped onion, cilantro leaves, limes, and diced avocado on the side, accompanied by warm corn tortillas. Very satisfying.

To use up the other 2 c. of beans, I used Sando's Chili verde with Anasazi beans, where Eye of Goat beans were listed as a suitable substitute. This was even better. I husked 8 tomatillos (first time I've ever cooked with these little green tomatoes!), boiled them for 5 min. and chopped them. I roasted 8 poblano chiles under the broiler for 15 min., turning often, put them into towels to steam for 10 min., peeled, seeded and cut into strips. In a large Dutch oven, I sauteed 1/2 chopped white onion in 2 Tbl oil, 3 chopped garlic cloves, and 1 tsp. of toasted, ground cumin seeds for about 10 min. Then I added 3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder cut into 3/4-in. cubes, chiles, tomatillos, 1/2 c. cilantro leaves and 1 tsp. Mexican oregano, and poured in chicken broth to cover. I seasoned with salt and pepper and simmered for 1-1/2 hrs. until pork was very tender, added 2 c. cooked beans and simmered another 30 min. Served with chopped cilantro. The green chiles lent a very satisfying heat to the tender, slightly fatty (I'd cut off a good deal of the fat) pork. Sando continues to astonish us.