No Mexican table today is complete without refried beans or frijoles refritos, as they are called locally. This simple dish is the pride of the family. The culinary standard of a household, or the wife, is measured by how flavourful the refried beans are!
Refried beans or frijoles refritos in Spanish, originated in ancient Mesoamerica and are a staple of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. The Spanish introduced lard, which allowed the beans to be cooked again with the fat for flavour.
This is a simple dish but worth every spoonful. The simplicity belies its beauty and flavour. You can use any variety of beans, with pinto beans or red kidney beans being the most popular. However, traditional recipes call for black beans that have a deeper, earthier flavour and are preferred. Here I start with boiling black beans until they are very soft. They are then puréed with lard and a few spices. I also use hoja sante, a large leaf used in Central American cooking for "umami" in this dish.
Cindy Pawlcyn began working in a Minneapolis cooking school at the age of 13 and ran a catering business while still in high school. After college and formal training in Paris, she worked at The Pump Room in Chicago before moving to California, where she established herself as one of the most influential chefs and pioneering restauranteurs in Napa Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. Cindy was an early advocate of using local, sustainable ingredients in her restaurants. She used the organic bounty grown in the gardens of her flagship Mustards Grill to supplement other locally sourced produce. In addition to launching Mustards Grill in 1993, Cindy opened other properties such as Tra Vigne, Brix, Roti, Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse, and Rio Grill. She's recently operating two other wine country restaurants, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen and Brassica. This cookbook is just spectacular. The flavours are from across the globe, are detailed and authentic, and always turn out well. It is an excellent book for themed dinner parties or dinner clubs.
For more recipes from this book, click here.
Ingredients:
1 cup black beans, soaked in 5 cups of water overnight
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
Salt, to taste
1 sprig epazote
8 cups water
1/2 cup pork lard, finely diced
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano, Mexican preferred
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, lightly roasted
1/2 leaf hoja santa. crumbled
Salt, to taste
Cilantro to garnish
Drain the beans and wash well. Add them to a pot with the onion, garlic, salt, pepper, epazote and water. Bring to a boil and scoop off any scum. Simmer for 45-60 minutes until the beans are very soft. Set aside the beans and cooking liquid.
While the beans are cooking, heat the lard in a pot over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the pieces are crisp golden. Add the onion and garlic and fry on medium-low heat until the onion is soft but has not taken on any colour.
Add the cumin, pepper, oregano, pumpkin seeds, hoja santa and cook for 30 seconds. Add the cooked beans and the cooking liquid and simmer for 15 more minutes. Take off the heat.
Cool the beans and blitz them for a smooth purée in a blender or with a hand blender. Taste for salt and adjust as needed. The consistency should be thick.
Serve hot, garnished with cilantro.
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