Frijoles refritos (Well-fried Beans)

Yes, you probably know them as "refried beans," but that is a mistranslation. The beans are not fried twice; the "re" in "refritos" means "very," as in "rebueno" (very good, and frijoles refritos certainly are).

Ingredients

4 cups of the beans from the pot beans recipe, with a little of the broth

the cooked bacon and chorizo from the pot beans recipe

4 tbsp pork lard

2 garlic cloves

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

2 tbsp of adobo sauce from the chipotle peppers

Mexican Knorr chicken bouillon or salt, to taste

crumbled cotija or milk feta cheese (for decoration)

a few corn chip triangles (for decoration)

On a large pan, heat the lard, but don't let it smoke. Puré the beans, garlic, chipotles and adobo sauce together. Use only as much bean broth as needed to release the blades. (I use a hand blender, in which case I can get away with very little broth.) Correct seasoning, if necessary, with the bouillon or salt

Turn the heat up high on the pan and add the bean puré and bouillon to the lard. Fry until the paste has dried up quite a bit, and the beans clump together in a shiny blob. You will need to stir frequently so that the beans cook evenly; constantly if you want to avoid splatters while the liquid evaporates. Once cooked, roll them off the pan, like an omelette.

Serve sprinkled with the crumbled cheese on top, sticking a few corn chips, triangle point down.

Notes

You can get chipotle peppers in adobo sauce at the Mexican section of most supermarkets. Of the brands you can get in Toronto, my preference is San Marcos. If the peppers are too hot for you, remove the seeds and veins; that should still give you a pleasant warmth.

In order to get the beans to form a cohesive, moist heap (described as "chinitos" [Chinese] in Mexico), you need lots of lard. You can reduce the lard, or even use oil, but instead of having with a single mass, you will end up with a very thick puré, which will tend to dry out.

Well-fried beans also make a delicious (if thick) dip, served with fried corn chips.