This particular refried bean recipe is fairly easy to make. You just need to plan ahead as it needs to simmer a long time to bring out the best flavor. You can serve this with the spanish rice recipe as a great combination.
Ingredients
2 cups Pinto Beans
⅔ to ¾ cups Vegetable Oil
1 bulb Roasted Garlic, approximately 6 or 7 cloves
2-3 tsp Sea Salt, depends on how much salt you like
1 Bay Leaf
1 Tomato, finely chopped
Instructions
) First pour your beans out on a table or cutting board.
Sort through them and discard any rocks or shriveled beans. I have found rocks so make sure not to skip this step!
This shouldn't take but a couple of minutes to do. Then, put the beans in a colander and rinse them under cold water. Pour the beans into a 4 quart pot.
Add 8 cups of cold water and the bay leaf. Put the stove burner on high and cover partially with a lid. As soon as the beans start to boil, lower the heat a little but still continue to boil. Cook for 2 hours and keep adding water as it cooks away.
Stir occasionally. Keep the water level at 2 inches above the beans.
A Helpful Hint
Keep some water heated on the stove in a kettle or pan. Then when you need to add water to your beans, you have hot water available. Adding cold water will slow down the cooking process while you wait for the beans to boil again. Please heat water on the stove rather than using hot water from the tap.
) After two hours of cooking, the beans should be soft and darker brown in color. If not cook them another 20 to 30 minutes. Then add the oil, salt, tomato, and roasted garlic. Important: Do not add salt before the two hours of cooking or your beans will never soften up.
) You can slide the roasted garlic out of it's sleeve in the bulb, right into the beans.
) After adding the salt etc. bring the beans to a boil again and lower the heat to low. You want to cook them on a slow boil for an additional 1 to 1 ½ hours. You will need to stir them occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
A Little Secret To Great Flavor
To get the best flavor, simmer your beans 1- 1 ½ hour or as long as you can with all the spices and oil. The longer these pinto bean recipes simmer, the better they will taste.
) After 1 to 1 ½ hours, it seems like all the beans want to do is stick to the pot. This is the point where you turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and mash them with a potato masher.
Cooking For A Crowd?
If you decide to make a larger quantity of beans, just remember that the beans will expand in volume. Your pot needs to be big enough to accommodate this as well as the other ingredients and still have room to mash the beans without making a mess.
Here is a rule of thumb. Never fill your pot more than ⅓ full of beans (before cooking). Also make sure you keep the level of water at 2 to 3 inches above the beans.
I got this recipe from: www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/pinto_bean_recipes.html
Recipe by Bair Necessity at https://bairnecessity.com/refried-pinto-beans/