Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Holy Frijoles



So I am proud to say that I have mastered a dish, albeit a simple dish- The Refried Bean!

So the basic process of making frijoles is taking the dried pinto bean, cooking it in water over a period of 3 hours, mashing them, and frying them up with some onions and fat*. I used duck fat the first time and bacon fat the second time. I also used generic taco seasoning. And really, both times, the beans were good but not great. I was really disappointed in the in the consistency. It was very chunky and husky. I tend to like creamier beans.

So last night, I made some major changes. After cooking the beans in water, I dumped them into the blender with some additional water and went to town. I then fried the blended concoction with onions and duck fat. I seasoned them with salt, Penzy's Adobo seasoning, and Hungarian Paprika. They were heavenly and by far the best thing on the table last night. Thank goodness I will never have to subject my guests to canned or freeze-dried frijoles again.

*Note- any fat will do. Olive Oil is fine for those vegetarians out there. I love the meat fats because they provide great flavoring.

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2 comments:

Dogburt said...

Nice visual!

Unknown said...

I usually use fatback in my homemade refried beans- it gives a great meaty flavor but the added saltiness that lard wouldn't. PLUS, if you render it first, you get the crunchy, salty pieces of pork skin that you can add to the beans (if they last that long).