Recipe: Chorizos Entomatados

Note: Ana Oviedo, one of this year’s Great Home Cooks, simmers Salvadoran chorizos (shorter and plumper than the most common Mexican style, they’re available in Latino markets) in a clay pot with tomatoes, onions, chiles and a dash of oregano. She serves them with Salvadoran-style beans, a blend of red and black beans that produces a color closer to those eaten in El Salvador.

18 (2-inch) Salvadoran chorizos

1/2 cup water

1 onion, cut into thin slices

4 serrano chiles, quartered lengthwise, seeded

2 large tomatoes

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon salt

Salvadoran-Style Frijoles, optional

Place chorizos in single layer in skillet. Add water. Boil, uncovered, until water cooks away. Cook chorizos in drippings remaining in skillet until browned on each side. Add onion and chiles.

Break apart tomatoes with fingers and add to skillet. Crumble oregano into pan. Add salt and stir. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, or until onion is tender and tomatoes have cooked down to sauce. Serve with Salvadoran-Style Frijoles. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:500 calories; 1,849 mg sodium; 89 mg cholesterol; 39 grams fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 26 grams protein; 1.33 grams fiber.

Salvadoran-Style Frijoles

1 onion

1 cup dried black beans

1 cup dried red beans

15 cups water

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon salt

9 tablespoons oil

Slice onion into 2 pieces. Reserve 1 piece for refrying beans next day. Cut remaining piece in halves.

Rinse black and red beans. Place in large clay pot or soup pot. Add 6 cups water and bring to boil. Reduce heat, add 2 onion quarters and garlic and simmer 2 hours or until tender. Stir beans occasionally so those on bottom do not burn. Add remaining water in stages as needed. When beans are done (tender enough to eat), remove from heat, cool and refrigerate in pot overnight.

Next day, remove beans and wash pot. Cut reserved 1/2 onion into 2 pieces. Reserve 1 piece for another use. Slice remaining piece into strips and separate. Heat oil in pot. Add onion strips and cook until well browned. Remove onion and discard, leaving oil. Add beans and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:402 calories; 1,190 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 22 grams fat; 41 gramscarbohydrates; 15 grams protein; 3.76 grams fiber.