This is my favourite Mexican side dish ‘Refried Beans’ ( in Spanish ‘frijoles refritos’)!! This is true Mexican and was often eaten as the main dish, the word actually means ‘well fried’, it’s now known as a dip or a side dish with your chilli or in burritos. The recipe I use for this is actually a Hairy Bikers recipe, but it has to be the nicest I have eaten. There isn’t anything I could possibly change with the recipe so I don’t mess with it…… it’s simple but tastes amazing.

It is made with pinto beans, which fortunately for me are Spanish so I had no problems getting hold of them here, “Pinto” means “speckled” in Spanish, they are a very pretty looking bean….. I would however love to try this with black beans at some point, they are my favourite bean. The beans are soaked over night then boiled to be tender. You then mash them up and fry them with some of the liquid used when boiling them, to create a creamy mash, you always season these beans once cooked; salt can change the cooking time and can also toughen the beans. I would compare this cooking method to an Indian Dhal the way you boil the lentils then use the liquid to make the dish creamy.

Ingredients:

250g Pinto Beans

1 Pint water

150g smoked streaky bacon

1 onion finely diced

25g butter

2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Soak the beans overnight in water only. If like me you forget to do this the night before there is a quick soak method….

Place the beans in a pan with ratio 1 cup beans to 2 cups water (I just made sure they were covered) Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and set aside for 2 hours.

Once soaked, empty the water away. Add the pint of water to the beans and bring to a boil, cook until tender. Do not add salt, we add this later.

Heat the oil and butter in a pan and gently cook the onions until soft then add in the bacon and cook until cooked and crispy.

Once the beans are tender, drain them but reserve the liquid DO NOT THROW THIS THICK BROWN WATER AWAY!!

Mash the beans or blitz in a blender.

Then add them to the onion mix and fry, add some of the thick brown water you set aside until the whole dish becomes creamy. You might not need all of this reserved water. If making in advance make sure you keep some of this liquid aside as its good to pour in when re-heating the beans.

Once it has a creamy texture season well with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve ❤ ❤

http://www.hairybikers.com/recipes/refried-beans/1216#6VrSwg05SmouuKDk.97

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION BELOW