INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sort beans and place in large stockpot. Fill pot with water so that
beans are covered by 4" of water. Leave beans to soak overnight.
(Alternative: instead of soaking overnight, bring beans and water to a
boil, remove from heat, and allow to sit for two or three hours.)
2. Drain water and rinse beans. Replace water, but this time the water
should only be about 1" above the top of the beans. Bring to a boil, then
reduce heat so that beans are simmering. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 hours,
or until beans are getting pretty soft. Watch water level! You don't want
the water to go below the top of the beans, but if you add too much, you
will have watery refritos. NOTE: DO NOT SALT BEANS UNTIL AFTER THEY ARE
SOFT. Adding salt to the cooking water makes the 'skin' of the bean tough!
3. Bacon: since you use only the lard (grease) from the bacon, I recommend
starting with a good-flavored bacon. I prefer a maple-flavored bacon made
in Canada (Fletcher's). Fry the strips whole for BLT's or breakfast, and
reserve the grease. If you have no use for cooked bacon strips, cut up the
raw bacon in small pieces, fry until crisp, and scoop out with slotted
spoon. Drain on paper towels, cool and put in a ziplock bag and freeze or
refrigerate for the next time you're having baked potatoes and use the
bacon as a topping.
4. When beans are cooked to the point where they mash easily with a spoon,
you're ready to season the beans. Add about 1/4 cup of the bacon lard and 1
teaspoon salt. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.
5. Now you're ready to mash the beans. I use a hand-blender for this.
Remove the beans from the heat and use the handblender to puree the beans.
If necessary add a bit more water, but carefully! You don't want them too
watery. (If you don't own a hand-blender, use a regular blender and process
in batches...but this will be a lot more messy and time consuming.)
6. If you're not ready to serve the beans at this time, DO NOT place them
back on the burner! Once the beans are mashed, they will scorch very
easily. Scooped the refritos into a casserole and keep warm in the oven or
reheat in the microwave (oven preferred).
These beans freeze extremely well.
msrooby@blarg.net 3/5/98
Recipe by: Rooby
Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by MsRooby <msrooby@blarg.net> on Mar 05, 1998

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