Email
PrintNative Cuisine
Enlarge
Want to learn how to cook the American Indian way? Check out the James Beard Award-winning Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations (Ten Speed Press, 2002) by Lois Ellen Frank, who spent more than 20 years working with Native communities in the Southwest, documenting time-honored techniques and recipes and adapting them to modern palates and kitchens with the help of her Navajo colleague and culinary advisor, Walter Whitewater. Come November, you’ll also be able to peruse Richard Hetzler’s forthcoming The Mitsitam Cafe Cookbook: Recipes from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Fulcrum, 2010), which features 90 recipes from his critically acclaimed restaurant. Both cookbooks are available by clicking here.
Pi"on Chile Beans Serves 6-8
Reprinted with permission from Lois Ellen Frank’s cookbook Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations. Frank often makes this chile with ground lamb or bison.
This recipe comes from the Begay family on the Diné (Navajo) reservation in Pinon, Arizona. It is their favorite chile bean recipe and I am asked to cook it every time I visit. This recipe is so great because you can make one recipe to feed six to eight people or you can multiply it and make enough to feed 60 people. It is a favorite at all family and ceremonial gatherings. This recipe goes great with warm Indian Frybread or Adobe Bread ... . It makes a hearty meal by itself or as a side to any feast.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded, deveined, and chopped
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with basil
2½ cups cooked dark red kidney beans
2½ cups cooked pinto beans
2 cups cooked corn kernels (fresh, frozen, or canned)
3 tablespoons red chile powder
1 teaspoon salt
Heat the oil in a large cast-iron or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, sauté for 2 minutes, until translucent, then add the green bell peppers and sauté for another 2 to 4 minutes. Add the ground beef, stir, and sauté until the meat is brown, 7 to 10 minutes.
Cut each of the whole tomatoes into 8 pieces (a large dice) and add the pieces to the meat, onions, and peppers. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the kidney beans, pinto beans, and the corn and stir well. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat to low. Stir in the red chile powder and salt. Let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Serve hot.
Issue: September 2010
