Refried Bean Recipe
I have a very great dish featuring the Chili Relleno that needs a traditional and excellent side dish of yummy refried beans that are a requirement for eating my relleno’s. Any traditional Mexican style chili relleno dish is not complete without a delicious siding of those refried pinto beans.
I’ve tried to use the canned version of these refried beans then added some additional ingredients; they taste ok but if you’re making the original and traditional Mexican relleno’s then traditional refried beans are in order. Do not worry this dish is quite easy to prepare.
You have the choice to use either use black or pinto beans to make authentic refried beans, Mexican style. The pinto bean type is usually the most common type used for the dish. Personally, this is my preference as well.
Canned pinto beans are ok to use for this recipe but if you’re using Mexican style to boil the dried pinto beans then your dish will taste better. Using dried pinto beans is better for this particular dish. If you’ll be soaking beans overnight, their cooking time will lessen but it isn’t really a needed step. If you just allow them to simmer and cook in your pot for a couple of hrs then you’ll get yummy tasting & tender beans to complement your dish.
Below are some steps to have that delicious tasting refried bean dish.
1) Be sure to wash beans thoroughly inside a colander or strainer.
2) Get 2 medium sized onions and chop them up well. Fry them using 3-4 tbsps of oil just until onions get browned and caramelized. The fried onions will add this really hearty flavor & taste to your dish.
3) Add beans to your saucepot filled with lots of water enough to completely cover these beans. Use your big pot because beans are going to grow big when you’re cooking them up. You could add water later on if needed.
4) Add to your pot your browned onions together with those oils that were used to caramelize them up. Add them to your pot then bring them to a boil gently.
5) For this particular step, you could choose to stir in salt or you could skip it. Salt will add that rich flavor into your dish but they can also prevent beans from getting soft & creamy, the choice is up to you.
6) Usually it takes beans 3-5 hrs for them to really get tenderized. One indication that they’ve cooked already is if their insides have that creamy feel & the chalky texture is already gone.
Simple Refried Bean Recipe
1 bag pinto beans
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon crushed hot pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder (optional)
4 strips bacon, including grease
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or lard
First, sort beans. Be sure all pebbles and debris are removed from them before you eat them. A good way to do this is to dump two handfuls at 1 time onto a plate.
As each handful is cleared of debris, dump it into a colander to be rinsed. After beans are all been properly sorted and rinsed, put them into a clean and large kettle and add about three times more water as beans inside your kettle. Leave beans inside the water overnight.
When you wake up the very next day, drain your pinto beans, & place them into a crock pot. Add water. Beans should be submerged with about one inch of water over the top. (If needed, add additional water as beans cook.)
Cook beans on low for around four hours or until soft. The older the bean, the longer cooking time it needs. Add cumin, salt, crushed pepper and chili powder to your crock pot.
Meanwhile, fry the bacon, and crumble it into your skillet. Add chopped garlic and minced onion, then continue frying on low for several minutes.
Drain beans one spoonful at a time, and add them to your skillet. Mash beans as you add them. Use your potato masher, but do not worry about perfection. There should be texture to your bean dish, so leave some beans whole. Once you have all your pinto beans inside the skillet, add additional butter or lard. If beans are moist enough, however, do not add any additional grease.
Fry beans over a very low heat. Do not burn. If beans begin to stick, add 1 tablespoon or so of water or juice from pickled hot peppers. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste.
If you’re not planning on using all your homemade refried bean mixture in 1 or 2 days, freeze it in airtight containers. To prevent waste, freeze only enough for one meal in each container
Discover Healthy and Delicious Fava Beans!
Beans actually give us gas. That’s no big secret! But aside from the funny gas effect, legumes and beans do offer us lots of good benefits in relation to our health and taste. The more often we eat them, the lesser gas we get.
The ancient Egyptians about 5000 yrs ago were the first ones who enjoyed these beans. These beans have been given the distinction of being the “meatiest” tasting bean and a very good protein source for the vegetarians
A serving of these beans, normally 1/3 of a cup, only has around 80 cal., no cholesterol & just a bit of fat. These beans are also good sources of the fiber, B vitamins& potassium, as well, making it a nice helping aid for your digestive system reducing your cholesterol levels & lowering the risk of colon cancers.
So if you are feeling constipated, the best cure would be a dose of fava beans.
Where would you find these beans? The beans are conveniently sold canned, dried or fresh in your local grocery stores. The fresh ones should appear crispy and they should stay really fresh up until 1 week if you store them inside your refrigerator. Dried version of these beans could stay for as long as 1 year inside an airtight container.
After picking up these delicious beans from your favorite grocer, its time to do some easy and quick cooking. This dish is a very simple recipe that I learned way back from my mom, who’s a very great cook and specializes in Mediterranean dishes.
During my childhood, I remember that fava beans were cooked with olive oil and tomato sauce. They were very popular in quaint Greek Tavernas as well as inside my house during lunchtime.
Here are the ingredients and steps on how to cook this lovely dish.
1 lb. (1/2 kg) shelled fava beans
6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground hot pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
Cooking the Beans
Place beans inside a pot with plenty of salted water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Partially cover the beans then reduce the heat to around medium. Cook the beans for about 30 minutes, or until beans are quite tender and can be popped out of their skins. Drain the beans after then set aside.
Making the Tomato Sauce
While the beans are cooking, add tomatoes and the remaining ingredients to your skillet or large pot, and stir to mix. Cook uncovered over medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and mashing the tomatoes as they soften, for about 25 minutes, or until a rich, thick sauce has formed.
Add cooked beans & about two tablespoons of water into the sauce. Simmer for a few minutes to heat the beans, then remove from the heat. Serve beans warm. They are frequently eaten with bread for scooping up the beans & sauce.
2 Easy Fresh Beans Recipes: A Wonderful and Healthy Addition To Any Meal!
Fresh beans are supposed to break off easily if they’re bent and very crispy too. If green beans fold over easy then they’re not as fresh as they should be. You could still use them up but their freshness is already not present.
There’s actually nothing more tasty than a great recipe which has fresh beans in them and here I’ll give you my most favorite bean dishes. Before going to the actual recipe, I’d like to teach you how to store your fresh green beans inside the freezer.
Just strip off strings at its side then take off its ends. Put your beans inside a clean strainer then blanch using really hot water. After that, immediately put your beans inside a Ziploc bag then place inside the freezer. That way, you retain their freshness whenever you want to cook dishes with green beans.
Green Beans With Garlicky Sauce
1.5 lbs green beans (really fresh ones would be ideal)
4 oz. fresh Shitake mushrooms (optional)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Pinch of fresh basil and oregano, minced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs (optional)
8 cloves garlic, peeled
Instructions
Into your saucepan, bring 5 cups water to a boil with 1 tablespoon salt. Add beans (strings and ends removed). Boil beans for 4-5 minutes, until tender but not overcooked. When tender, shock beans inside a bowl of ice water to prevent overcooking and retain bright green color.
Remove after 30 seconds then let drain in colander. Into your big heavy bottom skillet, heat olive oil with cloves of garlic and mushrooms. Saut� until garlic becomes tan, but not brown. Mash garlic into oil with the tines of a fork.
Add cooked beans, parsley, butter & remaining ingredients. Toss with cheese and bread crumbs (optional) and the fresh green bean recipe will be ready to serve when butter has melted….nice one!
Cook’s Note: Garlic cloves may be removed before serving, or left in for added flavor, as desired. Garlic could be pureed or pressed through a sieve, but this will eliminate the “roasted” garlic flavor which characterizes this dish. May be served either warm or cold (if served cold, omit butter).
Variations: A strip of lean bacon or Pancetta may be saut�ed in olive oil before adding garlic, then crumbled in. For that piquant flavor, beans may be served cold, either as salad, and dressed with a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon or balsamic vinegar.
Steamed Green Beans With Lemon Butter
Green beans (fresh); washed, ends trimmed, and cut in desired lengths
1/2 cup (1 stick) pure butter
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 small lemon, or to enhance taste
Salt & pepper for seasoning
You will need a vegetable steamer or a pan or appliance adaptable to steaming. I use an electric wok that has a steaming ring that rests above the water level. Put enough water in the pan, etc., so the water will not touch your beans when it boils.
With the steamer in the pan, bring the water to a boil. Place green beans on your steamer above the water. Cover pan and steam your beans until crunchy tender. Cooking time will vary.
Young beans will steam-cook faster than older, mature green beans, which may take up to 20 minutes. Occasionally taste-test one for doneness. They should be slightly crunchy, not limp. Don’t overcook.
Meanwhile, as beans are steaming, finely grate the rind from your lemon and set aside. Then squeeze the juice from out of your lemon and set aside. Melt butter inside a small saucepan over low heat, being careful not to let it burn. Add in grated lemon rind and heat briefly. Then stir in lemon juice and take off from heat.
When beans are done, remove them from your steamer then put inside a big bowl. Pour the lemon butter over the hot beans and toss till coated. Taste for seasoning, adding salt & pepper as needed. Serve using a big platter.
Is Chili Preferable With Beans OR No Beans? Be the Judge!
Which do you prefer? Chili w/ beans or chili without the beans? The controversial matter has always been a favorite debate item of all chili-lovers around the world. To understand how this big debate came to life, let’s first have a look on how and where Chili first begun and how it came to be one of the world’s most loved dishes.
Charles Ramsdell, a writer from San Antonio, Texas says that he is certain that the origins of “Chili” did NOT come from Mexico, due to the fact that one will have a hard time looking for the special dish there. That is extremely peculiar given the fact that Mexicans usually do not change their culinary customs and practices.
Mexicans, however, argue that chili was invented around the 1840s as a replacement for pemmican. They’re usually served at cantinas, created with leftovers from the meals previously prepared and is served for free for drinking customers.
There have also been some beliefs that Chili came from the Southwest, its first recipe written by Sister Mary of Agreda of Spain in the 17th century. The old recipe only consists of onions, antelope meat, tomatoes, and chili peppers. Mind you, no type of bean was present in that recipe. However, no accounts of this were ever recorded.
We now know that chili started with really no beans at all. But how come beans ended up inside chili dishes?
Many believe that chili w/ beans may have been created in the times of the “Great Depression” (during the 1950s) to be able to feed more people. Food and other luxuries were scarce. And beans add “meat” to dishes and they’re very inexpensive as well.
Many have then expressed their love over this new invention, including Westbrook Pegler, a famous columnist who wrote that chili should only be cooked with beef, powdered chili, garlic, onions, tomatoes and beans! Joe Cooper had also authored a famous book on Chili and he noted there that chili w/ beans were widely preferred over the one without.
And thus the well-known controversy continues up until today and most probably with future generations as well.
Because of tradition and heritage, some would prefer their chili without them. But for people who budget tightly and want some health benefits along with it, they may opt to add one or two pounds of fresh beans. At any local market, one pound usually costs just about one dollar. If one adds one dollar worth of these healthy beans into your dish of chili good for four people, your chili dish would now be able to feed eight!
So which camp do you belong to? Do you belong to the modern-loving group of “Chili w/ Beans team”? Or the traditional and respectful “Chili without Beans” team? Whichever you choose, however, the amazing spicy chili will never let you down.
3 Quick & Easy Bean Salads: The Interesting Addition To Any Party!
Want to have your dinner parties stand out with an extra kick of goodness and flavor? Why don’t you serve your guests these bean-inspired salads? It is a wonderful and classic side dish fit for any of your planned main courses.
It’s fresh tasting and healthy, you can savor the healthy goodness in every bite. These recipes are also very simple to create. Ingredients you need can all be found in your local market. It would also only take you around 5-15 minutes and you’re done with them.
Basic Bean Salad
1-lb can of green beans
1-lb can of wax beans
1-lb can of kidney beans
1-lb can of chick peas
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup chopped pepper, green or red
1 cup red onions, sliced
1/3 cup salad oil
2/3 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
Drain the chick peas and beans; put into a large bowl. Then add the celery, peppers and onion. Put the sugar, vinegar, salad oil, pepper, salt inside a jar with a lid on. Shake well to mix thoroughly.
Pour the dressing over prepared vegetable and bean combo.
This is good for 12 servings. If this is too much, you can keep any remaining salad in the refrigerator.
Easy-Does-It Green Bean Salad
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup stuffed green olives, sliced
2 lbs. fresh green beans, trimmed
1 cup sweet white onions, thinly sliced
Half cup of oil
On a large pot of boiling water, cook the green beans until tender. Drain well. Using a large bowl, combine the pepper, lemon juice, oil and salt. Then stir well.
Add the sweet onions, green olives, and hot beans. Toss until well coated. Serve immediately.
Szechuan-style Green Bean Salad
1/2 pound green beans
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 crushed garlic clove
1 teaspoon Sugar
2 tablespoons Sherry
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Chili puree with garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon water
Prepare the green beans by cutting it into 2 inches long and cook them al dente. Combine water and cornstarch and set aside. Heat peanut oil, garlic and ginger.
Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add beans, sugar, sherry, salt, chili puree, soy sauce and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in cornstarch/water and cook till it gets thickened, then stir in sesame oil. Chill. Serves 4.
Any of the three salads is surely a perfect start to your dinner parties. Remember to pick fresh ingredients, first and foremost. Then make your salad right before the guests arrive through the front door. That way, your guests will have the pleasure to enjoy the crunchiness and freshness of the ingredients.
All-Day Beans Recipe
Ingredients:
2 c of pinto beans (dried)
6 c of water (at room temperature)
1 pc of onion (medium); sliced thinly
6 pcs of bouillon cubes (beef or one pc of chicken)
2 tsps of chili (red, dried); crushed
2 tsps of garlic
2 ozs of lean pork
Salt (to taste)
Instructions:
Wash the beans; remove the blemished ones. Place water inside a saucepan; boil. Place the beans inside then cook for two mins.
Turn the heat off, cover then soak for an hour. Put garlic, onion, bouillon, chilies, and pork then boil above medium-high heat.
Once it has boiled, reduce the heat into low then let it simmer for five and a half hours, covered tightly or till tender; you can add more water when necessary. You can also add salt to taste.
>> All-Day Beans Recipe
Campfire Pork & Beans Recipe
Ingredients:
1/4 tsp of hot sauce
1/4 c of molasses
1 can of pork n’ beans (53 ozs)
1/2 c bell pepper (green); diced
1/2 c of onion; diced
8 slices of bacon; cut into 1 inch strips
Instructions:
Preset oven (375 degrees F). Pan fry the bacon ’till they are crispy. Set them aside.
Using the bacon drippins in the same pan, you can now saute onions and bell pepper. Mix in the molasses. Dollop a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Transfer mixture into a baking dish.
Bake for forty minutes. Garnish with bits of bacon.
>> Campfire Pork & Beans Recipe