Two Refried Beans Recipes for Emily

May these serve you better than your last recipe

1) http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/refried_beans/

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb or 450gm)
• 3 quarts of water
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
• 2 Tbsp pork lard, bacon fat, or olive oil (for vegetarian option)
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt to taste
• Cheddar cheese (optional)

Method

1 Rinse the beans in water and remove any small stones, pieces of dirt, or bad beans.

2 Cook the beans in water.
Pressure Cooker method Put beans into a 4 quart pressure cooker with a 15 lb weight. Fill up the pressure cooker with water, up to the line that indicates the capacity for the pot. Cook for 30-35 minutes - until the beans are soft and the skins are barely breaking open.
Regular method Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water - about 3 quarts for 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the batch of beans you have. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.

Strain the beans from the cooking water.

3 Add the onions and lard/fat/oil to a wide, sturdy (not with a flimsy stick-free lining) frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. (Note the onions are optional, you can skip them if you want.) Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste. Add a few slices of cheddar cheese, or some (1/2 cup) grated cheddar cheese if you want. When beans are heated through (and optional cheese melted) the beans are ready to serve.

Note that many recipes call for soaking the beans overnight and discarding the soaking liquid. We don't. We discard the cooking liquid and just add some water back into the frying pan when we are frying the beans.



2) http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/03/life-pursuit-refried-beans.html

Refried beans : A Life Pursuit
Ingredients:
1 pound of pinto beans
1/4 pound of salt pork slit with a knife
Half an onion, whole
1/4 cup of onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 slices of bacon
Salt to taste

Method:
Soak the beans overnight or quick soak by bringing to a boil and then turning off the heat and letting them sit for an hour.
Drain soaked beans and then place back in the pot. Cover beans with fresh water to cover them two inches.
Throw half an onion in the pot and add a couple of dashes of salt. Can also add 1/4 pound of salt pork (if you do this there’s no need for extra salt.)
Bring beans to a boil, cover and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.
The time it will take to cook the beans will depend on the freshness of the beans and the hardness of your water. If they’re not completely cooked after an hour, let them simmer a while longer until they’re done.
Remove salt pork and onion and then drain the beans, keeping 1/2 cup of the bean broth.
Chop the slices of bacon and fry them in a skillet on medium until crispy and all the fat is rendered.
Remove cooked pieces (you can either nibble on them while you’re cooking or save them for something else).
Fry the diced onion in the bacon grease for a couple of minutes, and then add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the drained cooked beans into the skillet, adding 1/4 cup of the bean broth.
Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding more bean broth for desired moisture.
Keep stirring the mashed beans in the bacon fat until the texture is a chunky paste.

Notes: You can substitute 1/4 cup of lard for the bacon grease. Or you can use 1/4 cup of peanut oil. If you don’t want to cook a pot of beans, two 16 oz. cans of cooked pintos can be used instead. You can also use black beans, just be sure and throw some epazote in the pot when cooking them. I’ll write more on epazote later (now that the days are warmer I plan to go foraging for it in Central Park), but for now, check out Lydia’s wonderful post on the subject. This recipe makes 4-6 servings.

Spicy Vegetarian Chili

I have finally contributed to the Emily/Mandy Fall 2009 Bean-off! Since I feel like food bloggers always post their snotty little heirloom health food modification to recipes, I think you should all know that I made this with these lovely black and while spotted heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo (http://www.ranchogordo.com/) and they were pretty.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spicy_vegetarian_chili/

The level of spiciness will depend on how much chili powder, and how many jalapeños you put in the chili. If you like things on the mild side, start with the smaller amounts of both, and add to taste. I used the lower bound of spiciness and it seemed fine.

Ingredients

• 1 1-pound eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 large red bell peppers, cored, seeded, diced
• 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely minced (Taste and check the heat of the jalapeños. If very hot only use one, if mildly hot, use two. Wash hands with soap and water after handling. Do not rub eyes.)
• 1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped, including liquid (or 2 pounds fresh plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped)
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1-2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chopped oregano or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (I hate fennel and did not use this)
  
• 1 1/2 cup cooked white beans (1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
• 1 1/2 cup cooked kidney beans (1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
• Zest of one lemon
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (can sub parsley if you have an aversion to cilantro)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Scatter eggplant cubes in a shallow roasting pan and slather with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring once during the cooking. Remove from the oven and set aside.

2 In a large (5-6 quart) thick-bottomed Dutch oven, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute more. Add the red bell peppers, zucchini, and jalapeño chili peppers. Cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

3 Add the tomatoes to the pot along with any liquid that may have been in the can (if using canned). Add oregano, cumin, and fennel seeds. Add chili powder to desired heat. Stir in the eggplant cubes (carefully as to not break them up), and simmer for 20 minutes over low heat.

4 Add the white beans and kidney beans, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and chopped cilantro. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve with sour cream (or yogurt), grated cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, and cilantro.

Serves 8-10.