cook: frijoles y ranchero sauce

Here’s what I’ve learned about refried beans. Mexican pinto beans are boiled, then mashed, and then fried, not fried again, but rather fried well. And refried beans are my most favorite side dish at a Mexican restaurant, and the reason they’re so delicious is because of the mantequilla or lard the beans are fried in. My refried beans started with a cup of dried pinto beans that I had soaked overnight and then simmered for a couple hours. The beans had broken down enough so that I didn’t have to mash them first. I had stored them in a jar in the fridge until ready to fry them. However, I was going to load them with flavor, which began with sautéing chopped onions and garlic in pork lard.                    

Patrick asked why did the kitchen smell like chicken livers. Does anyone in America even cook liver and onions for dinner anymore? I said fool, it’s not chicken livers, but pig fat—the key to making my non Latino home kitchen cook beans that taste like my favorite component of a Mexican meal. That and Curtido or Mexican coleslaw—but that’ll be for another meal. Also I added cayenne, sweet paprika, fresh oregano, and cumin to the pot.          

And then I let that pot of beans simmer while I cleaned my dining room table to showcase the bouquet hubs gave me for Valentine’s Day. My beans were looking savory, but holy smokes there wouldn’t be enough for two baking pans of Huevos Rancheros. I cheated and added to the pot a 32-ounce can of Rosarita’s frijoles refritos.           

 

I normally don’t care for the commercial product of refried beans, but it took on the flavor of authenticity(read, pork lard) when added to my homemade frijoles refritos. Two jars of refried beans for next day's huevos rancheros done. Next the ranchero sauce. 

I grilled onion, garlic, and jalapeños before whirring in a blender with a couple cans of diced tomatoes and a can of diced green chiles.          

                  

I tasted the sauce, and it needed not just salt, but herb and spice. Mexican oregano and cilantro and my can of chipotle or smoked jalapeños in adobo sauce to the rescue.  

And two jars of ranchero sauce to use in the next day's huevos rancheros and to simmer and make as perhaps an enchilada sauce.

And then I was off to ceramics class to play with the extruder and make coils.