Weekend Cooking: Buttery, Buttery Refried Beans

July 19, 2015

Brief, unexpected Weekend Cooking post ahoy! Weekend Cooking is a weekly feature hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

As a Latina (more specifically, a Jewban from South Florida), I've got a long, storied history with beans. Ask me what I miss most about living near Miami, and I will invariably wax poetic about Pollo Tropical's pulled pork (sadly out of reach now, due to newfound vegetarianism), black beans and rice, and plantains. I will probably follow up with an ode to Publix subs and the ability to wear shorts year-round.

Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. Today, my boyfriend and I were inspired to make a veritable butt-load of beans. We prepared the oft-missed Cuban black beans, and they're still simmering away on the stove. However, the refried beans are ready, and... well. They're freaking delicious.

Homemade refried beans. Looks like poo, tastes like heaven.

A photo posted by Shaina (@shainareadsbooks) on Jul 19, 2015 at 2:29pm PDT

They're also absolutely stuffed to the gills with butter. (Those two things are possibly related.) The recipe calls for a lot of fat—oil, butter or lard—so if that isn't your thing, steer clear. But, if so... who are you?

We doubled the following recipe and will be eating these beans until the end of time.

Refried Beans

Adapted from Serious Eats

1/2 pound dried pinto or black beans (note: we soaked these overnight, so we started off with the soaked and drained beans)

Water

2 sprigs fresh epazote or oregano (note: we used one teaspoon of dried oregano)

1 medium white onion, 1/2 minced and 1/2 whole

2 medium cloves garlic

Kosher salt

6 tablespoons lard, bacon drippings, vegetable oil or butter

In a large pot, cover your beans with water (they should be covered by about two inches). Add your herbs, onion half and garlic cloves and bring to boil. Lower the heat to simmer and cook until the beans are very tender, one to two hours. Season beans with salt. Take off heat and drain beans, reserving the cooking liquid. This should leave you with three cups of cooked beans.

In a large skillet, heat your fat of choice and cook minced onions until tender and translucent, about seven minutes. Stir in drained beans and cook for two minutes. Add one cup of reserved bean cooking liquid. Using a masher (chunky) or immersion blender (smooth), purée your beans. (Note: We used an immersion blender for the consistency above.) Reduce heat to medium and cook until your desired consistency is reached. If the beans are too dry, add more of the cooking liquid, a tablespoon at a time.

Do you love refried beans? Hate 'em? Don't care a whit about 'em but also cooked something delicious this weekend? Talk to me!