Figure 1: A heaping serving of refried beans, topped with queso seco and a roasted serrano chile.
Excellent on its own or as a side dish.
As written, the recipe assumes that you are using 1 lb of dry beans. I typically make this with 3 or 4 lbs of dry beans at a time. Everything scales linearly, except I keep the amount of onion the same.
Ingredients
Pinto beans (dry); 1 lb
Water; enough to cover beans
Salt; 1 tbsp
Baking soda; 1.5 tsp
Stock or water; enough to cover beans after soaking
Onion (peeled; cut in half); 1
Bay leaf (dry); 1
Cumin, toasted and freshly ground; 3 tbsp whole
Mexican oregano, toasted and freshly ground; 3 tbsp whole
Lard; 2 tbsp
Garlic clove (finely minced); 1
Equipment
Knife (any)
Chopping board
Bowl or other vessel for soaking beans
Appropriately-sized pot
Immersion blender
Steps
The night before, place the dry beans in a bowl or similar vessel and cover with water. They will expand a lot, nearly doubling in size. You need enough water that they will still be submerged even after expanding. Dissolve the salt and baking soda in the water. I would recommend soaking for at least 24 hours.
Drain and rinse the beans. Place in your pot and cover with liquid (stock, preferably, but water works fine) and add the onion and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil, then to a bare simmer.
Cook the beans until they are extremely tender. About one hour so long as you used baking soda in the soaking water.
Remove the bay leaves, and drain the beans, leaving the onion in the pot and reserving the liquid.
Add the lard, cumin, oregano, and garlic to the pot.
Use an immersion blender to blend the beans, adding the liquid back in small increments until you reach your desired consistency, bearing in mind that this will thicken when it cools.
Store leftovers in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator. The texture degrades somewhat if not sufficiently sealed, since the refrigerator dries out the beans and gives you more of a crumbly texture than a smooth puree.
