TracyFood

Neither pigs nor my garden, but a recipe: refried beans for Linley 1 August 2007 10:43 pm

Posted by Tracy in : advice, cooking, eating, friends, garden, kitchen gear, recipes, vegan, vegetarian , trackback

I did play in my garden today, and it was awesome — so awesome that I did not make any time to watch Alton Brown about pigs. However, today’s inspiration came from neither source, but rather the discovery of some cilantro, rapidly wilting in the fridge. Clearly, it was time to make something that would use up the precious fresh herb — something like refried beans!

Linley asked about homemade refried beans last Monday, and I resolved to pay careful attention to my technique the next time I made them. Tonight was that time, but the process began at around 11:30 this morning, when I discovered the cilantro and promptly got some beans soaking (half a pound, to be exact). I used dry organic pinto beans, which are more traditional to my mind, and also quicker-cooking than, say, black turtle beans.

Here is what is awesome about cooking with dried beans: you get to control absolutely everything that goes in them, from the water on. Also, they are super-cheap ($1.39/pound for organic pintos at a local, relatively upscale supermarket, or $1.25/pound for conventionally grown — as opposed to $0.89 to $1.39 for a 15-oz can, the equivalent of maybe half a pound of dry beans, and no control over how much salt was used to cook them). Here is what is a little less than awesome: it takes a time, which is to say a little planning ahead. You could make this recipe with canned beans — just start from the sauté step and be sure to rinse your dried beans to be on the somewhat less salty side (you can always add more back in later).

According to the stupendously awesome On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee, a lot of bean cookery is just getting the water to the center of the beans, which is why pre-soaking makes them cook faster and more evenly and such. You can cook dried beans straight, but I don’t recommend it, mostly for reasons of energy use: why add heat when you can use time instead? As a compromise between pre-soaking and cooking unsoaked dried beans, I describe a “quick soak” method that involves bringing the beans to a boil and letting them soak in the resultant hot water — in the middle of summer, I appreciate the heck out of any technique that involves turning off the hot stove for any length of time, but using less cooking energy is awesome all year round.

Other thoughts, before I get to the recipe: take a cue from the fantabulous Madhur Jaffrey, I said to myself, and do not mess around with your fats. Use plenty. Six tablespoons of canola oil was plenty: you could also use a mix of oil and butter if you’re really insistent on getting some animal in there, or even lard if you’re resenting me for not making this Pig Week. And now, the recipe:

Ingredients and Equipment

1/2 pound dried pinto beans (1 heaping cup)
lots of water
a pot big enough to hold the beans and cover them with 1-2 inches water
spoon for stirring beans (I like a slotted one, so I can pull beans out and taste test for doneness)
salt
a small head of garlic (from my garden, so not very standard-sized, but let’s call it 6-8 supermarket cloves)
a big onion (about 2 cups, diced)
6 tablespoons canola oil
frying pan big enough to hold at least 3 cups of beany goodness
spatula for stirring
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 heaping tablespoon cumin (yum)
potato masher
1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional but delicious)
blender or food processor (optional)

What You Do

Put the dried beans to soak under 1-2 inches of water, for at least 6 hours, or until at least doubled in size. Depending on your beans, you could probably go as low as 4 hours, but soaking overnight is a tried and true technique that has served me well many times. If you’re feeling super food safety-conscious, soak in the fridge, but room temperature is probably fine since you’re going to be rinsing the beans and cooking the hell out of anything that might grow on them and survive the rinse. If you really don’t have an extra four hours, you can do a quick soak: bring the beans to a boil for about five minutes, then turn off the stove and let them soak in the hot water for an hour or so before rinsing and proceeding to the cooking step. If you really don’t have any time at all, skip the cooking step by using canned beans (though I do still recommend rinsing them).

To cook the soaked beans, drain and rinse them, then refill the pot back to covering them by 1 to 2 inches of water. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat to whatever you can get away with that’s still boiling. Set a timer for 30 minutes. Dice the onion and clean the garlic while you wait.

After 15 minutes, try tasting some of the beans. Mine were actually pretty well-done after just 20 minutes, so you may luck out, too. When the beans are getting tender (they don’t have to be well-done), add about half the onions and garlic and a big pinch of salt, and continue cooking them for the rest of the 30 minutes, or until the beans are good and soft. (Overcooking is okay with refried beans, because you’re going to be mashing them anyway.) Remember that it’s okay to turn the heat off early; the beans will continue cooking as long as they’re in the hot water.

After you’ve salted and seasoned the cooking beans, start heating your big mess of oil in the frying pan. When it’s hot, sauté the remaining onions and garlic; when they are translucent, season them with cumin and cayenne or chili powder, and keep cooking. Turn down the heat under the sauté while you drain the cooked beans, reserving 1-2 cups of the cooking liquid. (If you’re using canned beans, make sure they’re drained and rinsed at this point, and substitute water for bean cooking liquid.)

Add the cooked beans to the sauté along with a few tablespoons of the cooking water. Mash the whole mixture with the potato masher, adding more liquid as needed to create your preferred consistency. Don’t be afraid to add too much cooking water; it will cook off. If you like your beans really smooth, purée them in a blender or food processor to finish them off. Finally, stir in some chopped cilantro if you’re using it (or blend it in if you don’t even want a little leafiness in your texture).

Makes about 3 cups (1.5 pounds) refried beans, plenty for 2-4 people to incorporate into tacos or burritos or anything that strikes your refried bean-eating fancy. Takes 30 minutes with canned beans, or up to 1 hour of active cooking if you’re working from dried beans, with maybe 15 minutes of bean soaking preparation. Soaking times can vary from 1 hour to overnight, but if you soak beans for more than a day, be sure to drain and rinse them once a day, or they might sprout (not that I’m speaking from experience or anything).