Perfect Pintos

Family in town, husband wants meat fajitas.  I'm not in the mood for meat tonight... so... it's bean time!!!

Here's my perfect Pintos:

4 c stock (I had a bag of homemade chicken stock in the freezer, veggie stock appropriate too)
2.5 c water
1 lb dried pintos, rinsed and picked over- no need to pre-soak
4 cloves garlic
1 spicy pepper, whole/seeds removed (this will be removed after cooking)- I used an anaheim from my garden
2 big sprigs of cilantro (also from my garden- I plucked off the soon-to-be seeding stalks- they were perfect for this)
2 stems of oregano (fresh from garden, can sub extra dried if you like)
1 t dried oregano
1 t smoked paprika
1 t salt (more or less to taste depending on stock used)- even better if it's smoked!
2 t cumin
2 t onion powder
dash of chili powder (not sure this even really did anything)
1 T liquid smoke (more if omitting the ham hock)
1 bay leaf

Optional: 1 smoked ham hock (I had one on hand so I threw it in).  I like picking the tiny bit of meat out of the hock and mixing it in when I'm done cooking.

Dump everything in the pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 2-3 hours more, until beans are soft.  Be sure to watch for the need for additional water! I started mine around 11:30 in the morning, and they were perfect around 3.

Could also be done in the crockpot, but without boiling first I would recommend cooking it much, much longer, or soaking overnight, or doing a quick soak before putting into the pot.  How much water you need gets wonky, though, so don't leave it unattended!

Delish hummus!

2 c chickpeas (mine were dried to start, then rehydrated/cooked. You get about this much from a can, but not quite)

2 small or one large clove of garlic

3/4 tsp kosher salt

2 T tahini

Juice from 1 med lemon (about 2.5T)

2T water

2T olive oil

Put the garlic, chickpeas, and salt in the food processor, process 20 seconds, scrape down the sides and process 20 more. Add lemon juice and water, process 20 sec, scrape down the sides and add tahini, then 20 sec more. Then, stop it one last time, scrape down the sides, and turn the food pro back on- while the food pro is running, drizzle the olive oil in slowly. Then process as long as you like (mine was in about a minute total from when I started drizzling). It has a bit of texture too it, but not too much. The flavors are all subtle, but nicely balanced!!

You could use this and add in some sun dried tomatoes or kalamata olives (or both??). Makes about 2 cups!