Monday, December 1, 2008

Bean Party



It probably wasn't until I was in college that I learned what a real dinner party was. Growing up, my family didn't have much disposable income and had no sense of "entertaining." As a good Christian family, we "ministered" to others. There was never any fine china, a prime rib coming out of the oven or fine wines being decanted. We had "bean parties."

Early on Saturday morning, we'd sort through 3 to 4 pounds of dried pinto beans. Picking out all the reject beans and the bits of stones and dirt was a job even the youngest could help with. Then we'd rinse the beans a few times and set them to boil in a industrial-sized stock pot. Add a ham hock or some bits of bacon. Bring to a boil, then simmer for hours and hours.

Later in the day - after dad had mowed the yard and we'd tidied up the house - we start to make the tortillas. I can't remember the exact recipe but I know it involved a few cups of flour, a couple scoops of lard (dad kept a jar of bacon drippings in the back of the fridge) or Crisco, baking powder, salt and enough water to make a dough. The dough would rest in a bowl for 20 or 30 minutes and then the rolling-out process would begin.

By this time, people from church would start arriving. (We could only hang out with people from church who were Christians. And don't think that Catholics were allowed.) Sometimes it would be a few dozen people, or sometimes it'd be 30 or 40. (Even inviting 2 or 3 other families meant a few dozen mouths to feed. Think TLC's Duggar Family stance on birth control.) A handful of people would gather in our small, hot kitchen - this would have been central Florida with no air conditioning. Assembly line in place, one person would start fashioning golf ball-sized rounds of dough. Then someone else would flatten these into a pupusa shape. Dad, with his jumbo sized rolling pin would roll them out to the perfect smooth thinness and cook them on a screaming hot cast iron skillet.

The pièce de résistance was the salsa. Here's the recipe as well as I can remember it:

4-5 jalapeños
1 habanero (optional)
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 limes
1-2 cloves garlic
large pinch of oregano (mexican)
large pinch of ground cumin

4-5 tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
cilantro
olive oil
salt
pepper

Put peppers, tomato sauce, lime juice garlic and spices in blender and puree. Add tomatoes, onion and cilantro. Pulse to desired consistency (or don't blend at all for a chunky salsa). Add a few glugs of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.