frijoles refritos

Refried Beans. What could be more simple, more down-to earth? They are good at any meal, and are a good replacement for mashed potatoes. They are a must have with tacos, enchiladas, ect. I like them with eggs at breakfast!

I much prefer homemade refried beans to anything in a can, and with a little prep work it dosn't take long to whip up a batch of refried beans.

Start the evening before:

First sort your beans. Broken pices are ok. Rocks and sticks are not. Then wash. How much washing depends on the beans. I have bought beans that I have taken outside in a collander and shaken to get a lot of the dirt out, then brought back in and washed many times. Others, a couple good washings did the job. Wash till the water in the bowl is clear.

Now, refill the bowl of beans with cold water, you want the water well over the beans, like a couple inches. I cover mine with a plate over the bowl. We have a cat. I also leave the bowl in the sink. You are done with the beans until morning. Goodnight!

Next morning, pour out the soak water and rinse the beans well through a colander.

Now you can cook them any way you want. Pressure cooker, stove top, crock pot. I usually use the crock pot.

Many hours later, at least 6 or 7 on low, when they are done, you are ready to make your frijoles refritos!

Drain your beans, reserving the liquid.

Now you need a large skillet, preferably well seasoned cast iron. If not well seasoned and large, large and non-stick will do. You need a good amount of fat in that skillet. I use lard and bacon grease. You don't need lots of bacon grease, but some to give flavor.

Get your grease hot. Put a spoonful of the drained beans in the hot grease. WATCH FOR SPLATTERS, and be careful not to heat the grease to the smoke point!

Now with a potato masher, mash this spoonful of beans, working quickly. When pretty much mashed, add another, continuing until done with all the beans. At this point, or before if they get too dry, you will want to use some of your reserved cooking liquid to make them the consistency you want.

Now, add your salt, and pepper if you want. I do not add any other spices to my refried beans except occasionally a hint of garlic.

As I said at the start, refied beans go good with many things!

TACOS!!

More of a suggestion, really. Who needs a recipe for tacos? One of our favorite meals is tacos. There's just something comforting, homey, and yet festive about tacos.

There is a couple of things I do with mine that is different than the norm. I do not season the meat, unless you count salt and pepper. But the main difference is, I do not use the pre-bent, ultra crunchy tacos shells. I buy regular corn tortillas, the ones you have to bend yourself.

The beans are different at our house, too. I don't use canned refried beans. I use either dehydrated refried beans (located in the Mexican food section of our local Walmart) or I make my own.

Fry your hamburger. While its frying, either make your deydrated beans or re-heat homemade ones. (A recipe for homemade refried beans will follow soon) When everything else is ready, or being prepared by your helpers, (grated cheese, salsa, sour cream, shredded lettuce...) fry your tortillas. In a small cast iron skillet, heat about 1/2" of oil or lard. Heat it up until a small drop of water pops and splatters.

Drop a tortilla in, fry a few seconds on one side, turn over with tongs, fry a few more seconds, then bend using your tongs. Hold in the oil at the angel you want it, flip over and fry the other side of the shell for a couple seconds, and finally set upside down in a pan lined with paper towels. Immdeiatly start the next taco shell. These do not turn our real crispy, just slightly more than softened. But the taste is uncomparable to the pre-bent store bought kind.

Enjoy your tacos!

New Years Black-eyed Pea Soup

I have made this soup for many years, only and always on New Year's Day. This year I am omitting a ham bone because I don't have one.

Rinse and drain 2 pounds dried black eyed peas
Peel and grate 2 large potatoes and place in a bowl of cold water.
In a large soup pot, saute 1 or 2 large onion, some carrots, a couple stalks celery, and 1/2 pound bacon until bacon is cooked and onion is soft. When almost done, add 1 large jalapeno, sliced, and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced.

Add the peas, drained potatoes, and meaty ham bone if you have one, to the pot. Add about 7 qts water. Since I don't have the ham bone, I added about 2 tsp. of "superior taste- better than bouillon" chicken base.

Add pepper and if needed, salt. I am fond of McCormick PEPPER season-all, and will add a few shakes of that when its close to done. It will need to cook about 4 hours.

I will serve it with warm corn bread.