We had a taco night last night and refried beans are a necessary item. We can get pinto beans here in Germany although not everywhere. I used to get them precooked in a can but since we’ve moved, I had to find a new source. The source has them dried which actually suits me just fine because the other day, one of my favorite cooking blogs, Homesick Texan, posted a recipe for refried beans. Woohoo! I’m actually thinking about trying to grow some of our own but I don’t know how many plants we’d need or if it’s practical yet.
I started soaking my beans on Thursday and I’ve changed the water a few times to help eliminate the gassiness of them. I read on Purely American that 4 hours tends to be enough time for soaking although many recipes suggest overnight primarily for convenience.
We usually use a recipe with seasons the beans with cumin and oregano, neither of which are in this recipe. I always found the oregano to be a bit strange although it tastes great in there so I may be modifying this recipe a bit as well.
We had plenty of left overs so we had bean burritos for lunch today. We’re definitely going to need to make some modifications next time around and perhaps not burn the bacon…there wasn’t much taste (and of course they’re not supposed to have a lot) but the little taste that is there isn’t all that good…but I will be trying again.
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- 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
Ingredients
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- 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. This recipe makes 4-6 servings.
