Beans, Beans

One of my favorite foods is Ranch Style Beans, a Texas pinto-beans-in-chili-sauce staple in a black can. They aren't sold up here, though, so I often get a dozen for Christmas. I squirrel them away, distributing them in a miserly way so as to spread out my stock.

And even with all my legume experience, I haven't been able to replicate them, didn't have a clue about the "natural spices" listed on the back.

Until this weekend, when I had baked beans at The Cookhouse. The reddish-brown bean gravy closely resembled Ranch Style Beans, though the beans were traditional small white Northern beans and not pintos. And the flavor was very, very similar, but a little more pronounced. I could clearly identify cumin and brown sugar.

When I got home, I googled "Ranch Style Beans" and found a recipe right away. I should've known: Homesick Texan, who posted the recipe just last week! And it has the cumin and brown sugar. I doubt I'll include the whole amount of ancho peppers, but otherwise I'm going to give it a go very soon.

Before my stash runs low.