Pinto beans with tomitillas

To go along with my pork carnitas on Saturday I wanted to serve beans. I find the normal re-fried beans served in restaurants a little runny and a little bland, so I decided to add some tomatillas to add a little spark of flavour.

2 cups of dried pinto beans
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
8 tomatillos chopped
2 tablespoons of ground cumin
2 tablespoons of ground coriander
2 cups of chicken stock

Soak the beans in boiling water for one hour.  Add the onion, garlic and olive oil to a large pot and cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the tomatillos and spices.

stir through to combine and cook for about a minute until the spices are giving off their aroma, now add the remaining ingredients.

Simmer with a lid on, until the beans are soft, about an hour.  You may need to replenish the liquid with a little water once in a while, but when you are finished you want most of the liquid absorbed in to the beans.

The tomatillas will be almost completely broken down as well.  These were tasty beans and provided a good back drop to the main event the pork along with some rice and a green salad.  Looking at the picture of the final dish I could have put a little cilantro or cheese on top they do look rather boring.