Old School – Self Reliance 101

• 
• Tweet
• Sharebar

• 
• Tweet

The Damsel is pleased to have The Clever Mommy guest posting again today. The Damsel has long been on a quest to stamp out Bean Fear, (remember this post on split peas?) so she was twice as excited to share this post with you.

When you’re cooking on a budget, beans are a staple.  They’re inexpensive, versatile, and tasty.  We use them in chili, soups, bean burgers, vegetarian tacos, and more.  Our favorite bean recipe by far, however, is homemade refried beans.  They’re really easy to make, and they are so yummy, I have to stop myself from eating them straight out of the pan before dinner.

All you need to make your own homemade refries is as follows:

1lb bag of pinto or black beans (believe it or not, black beans are more commonly used to make refried beans in Mexico, but we prefer pinto)

3 cloves garlic

1/2 medium onion, chopped (or a generous amount of onion powder)

butter or oil

Salt to taste

Start by rinsing and sorting your beans to be sure you’re not cooking up  some rocks along with your beans.  Place them in a large pot and cover them with a lot of water.  Bring to a boil, and boil for two minutes.  Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let it stand for an hour.

Once the hour is up, drain the beans and cover with 6-8 cups of fresh water.  Chop two of your garlic cloves, or push them through a garlic press.  Chop your onion. Add the garlic and onion to the beans.  Bring to a boil, cover with a tilted lid, and cook for about two hours, or until the beans are soft.

Heat a few tablespoons of butter or canola oil in a large frying pan.  Chop or press your remaining garlic clove, and cook until soft and fragrant.  Add a few spoonfuls of the beans, and mash them with a potato masher, or the back of your spoon.  Add a bit of the liquid from the beans (or water, if the liquid cooked down).  Keep adding spoonfuls of beans, mashing them, and adding a bit of liquid, until you’ve incorporated all of your beans.

Add more liquid than you think you need because they will thicken a lot.  once you’ve incorporated all of your beans, add some salt.  Taste the beans, add more salt if needed.  Just keep adding salt and tasting until they are just right.

Serve them warm with some fresh homemade tortillas and rice you’ve got a really yummy meal!