7/14/05 | Rosarita Refried Beans
[ Currently Eating: Magical Coffee from Magic Beans ]
First off, sorry for the blurry picture of this can of Rosarita Refried Beans… you see, my hand was shaking from the uncontrollable hiccup emissions emanating from my rear end. That’s right, let’s all sing the song: “Beans, beans, are good for your heart / The more you eat the more you fart!”
Certainly, it’s no secret that beans will give you gas. If you eat too much that is. But dang, I do believe that the right kind of beans also qualify for Cheap Eats status. Take refried beans for instance. The cans last forever in the pantry, so you can buy a 12 pack or whatever at Costco at a price of about 50 cents or less a can. And trust me when I say that a can of beans will last you more than one day.
Many, many people I know absolutely cannot stand refried beans because of what they look like. Er, I’ll just leave that up to your imagination. I grew up on Del Taco and Taco Bell bean burritos with cheese though. I had them at home a lot too, so I’m used to it by now. And I like to get the “Spicy Jalapeno” of this version as it adds even more bluster to what comes out of your keister. Toot!
So most people buy a can of refried beans and wonder what exactly they are? They’re dried beans that’ve been cooked once to make them soft, and then mashed and fried up with lard, shortening and unmentionable other things. Well, I actually think that most of the refried beans in cans are made with vegetable oil or something nowadays. People just wouldn’t buy it otherwise, and I think it lasts longer.
So what do you make with Refried Beans? Well, a host of things but my favorite is to make bean burritos out of them. You need some tortillas of course, hopefully the delicious uncooked variety of tortillas. I just take about a half can of beans out and put it in a bowl and microwave it with a cover. Open and stir them every so often during the microwaving, otherwise these beans tend to explode quite a bit. The other half can be refrigerated (for a couple days only). I put some jack cheese in the beans to microwave some times.
Plop them onto a fresh cooked tortilla, drizzle on the hot sauce (I like a brand called Pico Pica) and then add some shredded lettuce. Instant wannabe Mexican Food! You can also add mild canned green chiles (non-spicy Anaheim chiles?). This really gives it an extra boost.
Another great thing to make with them is a casserole dip or nachos. With nachos, you just add the beans on top of the chips and the put the cheese and everything else on top. With a casserole dip, you try and layer the beans along with ingredients such as guacamole, sour cream, olives, cheese, tomatoes, and salsa in a flat glass baking dish. This is really delicious with those Tostitos scoopers and is excellent for sports parties and such.
I gotta give this a slightly lower score though, because it simply gets tiring (and somewhat stressful on your rear) to eat refried beans day in and day out. Since you’ll normally be getting a economy pack of them to save money, a good idea is to split this with someone so you don’t overload your refried bean tolerance levels.
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10
July 14th, 2005 at 11:18 am
i like refried beans. although i don’t eat them as a steady diet. i mix some refried beans with some salsa from a jar, warm in a microwave, heat a couple of tortillas in a skillet, cook 2 eggs medium in another skillet. and then layer tortillas, beans, grated cheese and eggs on a plate. a good breakfast. this is a knife and fork meal.
July 14th, 2005 at 5:27 pm
I usually use refried beans when I’m too lazy to cook rice.
July 15th, 2005 at 4:05 am
I like frijoles blancos pequeños
:-D
July 15th, 2005 at 7:49 am
I’m in the frijoles negro camp. Smooshed or whole is good stuff and LOADS of protein. I’ve never had this brand so I will have to give them a try. Usually make my own since it is so easy to do so and is so cheap it is almost free. Lard is nice and traditional but is about as close to physical abuse as you can come without being arrested. Try using grapeseed oil or canola in your homemade stuff(NOT olive because olive oil makes the beans taste funny). Okay, I’m done babbling.
BTW Jim that sounds very good.
July 15th, 2005 at 8:21 am
I love refried beans! I make my own pseudo-refried beans:
1 can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 half or quarter of spanish onion finely chopped
1 clove (or more) of garlic finely chopped
1 small can of diced green chilies
1 cup of chicken broth/stock
Chili powder to taste (sometimes I add salt, pepper, and garlic powder too)
2 TBSP of butter
In a med or large sauce pot melt the butter and start to sautee the onions, till they are translucent. Add the garlic and chilies. Season that mixture with the chili powder. Add beans and the chicken broth. Mash mixture with a potato masher. Let simmer till most of the liquid is gone stirring occasionally. Taste to see if you need to season it more. Pour in a bowl and eat with chips! YUM!
Now remember I said these were pseudo-refried beans. LOL
July 15th, 2005 at 9:52 am
jim - hey that sounds good, like “huevos rancheros” a bit?
marvo - how can you have a meal without rice? haha, just kiddin… but my dad says this every time?
nuez - small white beans? Are those like navy beans or something?
bonz - you are right about it being cheaper to make your own. I actually do have half a 10 pound bag of pinto beans left over still from CostCo, but I have been lazy to make them. Do you make a “sofrito” (take some of the beans and smash them with cooked veggies and then transfer back to the whole beans)?
andie - that does sound good. And that seems similar to recipes i’ve seen for homemade beans, except you are starting with the beans already cooked. Which is a bit of a timesaver, because I usually soak dry beans overnight…
July 15th, 2005 at 11:26 am
Yes, I make a sofrito of sorts. To many of you this will sound odd but here we go. I try to of course by my meat in larger quntities and seperate and freeze especially when the market has a sale going. When I buy a pack of chicken, I seperate the chicken but before portioning it I trim it of fat and sometime skin from some. I use the fat and skin to render into fat. You can freeze the stuff too. SO I take some chicken fat and sweat some onion and garlic and a couple chilis of various heats.after they sweat a bit I add chicken or turkey stock (make the stock from the left over turkey carcass you can lift from your mom’s on Thanks giving. Pour the stock into an ice cube tray(s) and freeeze, then put the cubes in a zip lock back and toss in the freezer. that way you have premeasured and handy stock on hand) Any way I add a couple cubes to the veggies and moosh from there.
July 15th, 2005 at 12:55 pm
I have been trying to convince myself to get off my lazy butt and make homemade chicken stock. I have heard before of doing the ice cube stock thing and really think that is the way to go. Huh, I have also used chicken skin / fat like that, sometimes in place of bacon to flavor stews and such… that seems to work surprisingly well.
That is funny what you said about taking stuff from Thanksgiving dinner! I always try and take turkey but also some ham which we always have, and the hambone if possible. Soups and stews for the bone, and cubed ham for great fried rice, cauliflower casserole. Also, ham n egg sammiches!
July 18th, 2005 at 4:09 am
LIKE THIS
February 14th, 2006 at 8:53 am
That chicken stock thing - very easy - not the hours long process so many people think. Take salted chicken thighs and throw them into a hot, dry stock pot, skin side down. Don’t disturb - let the fat release from the skin. While the skin side is searing, season the top side with thyme and a little pepper. Turn and sear the other side, then add water and cook ’til the chicken is done. You’ll be surprised at the amount of flavor and color to your stock. If you season the skin side with anything but salt, it will burn the seasoning because there’s not already some fat in the pan. Also - don’t cook this so long that the meat is unusable - it’s not necessary. If you want to cook the stock longer or reduce it just pull the meat from the pot when it’s done, bone it and return the bones. It’s very quick and easy. If you like a really yellow broth, throw some chicken feet in there - might be hard to find, but when you’re making your selection make sure you choose very yellow feet. What a different it makes!
Something else I do - if I’ve fried or baked chicken I “harvest” the bones to make a quick stock. I remove the meat myself and plate it that way, keeping the bones for later; or I harvest the bones from everyone’s plates and make a quick broth to add to my dog’s dry food. Makes her very happy.
For homemade refried beans - try adding a little milk - makes for a nice consistency.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:02 am
brenda - thanks for the chicken stock tips. I have done the “bone harvesting” that you’ve talked about before a few times. I think I may try the chicken thighs method you suggested. I’ve heard a lot of people say they use wings as well, but that would probably be much more trouble to take the meat off the wings and then return them.
one question - what’s the approximate ratio of chicken to water? Like, how much chicken would you use to flavor a medium pot of water?
March 1st, 2006 at 9:54 pm
I use an 8 qt. pot and then fill the bottom with the chicken thighs - depending on their size it will be anywhere from 6 - 8 thighs. When the chicken’s ready I add water to about halfway up the pot, maybe a little more. Chicken wings makes a nice broth, but not enough meat to merit the trouble. If I’m going to have broth, I want some serious chunks of meat to go with whatever I’m making the broth for! One thing I should mention: even though I leave the skin on I remove EXCESS fat - fat’s tasty but too much is too much. Happy cooking!
July 10th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
There is a whole world of bean spreads that a person can make. And just about any sort of beans can be cooked and run through a food processor. Conversely, if you are without a food processor, you can mash your beans with a big spoon or other appropriate implement. Canned beans are, of course, fine to use too.
I like to grind chic peas and then add a wide variety of ingredients. Probably my spreads lean more toward hummus, the favorite among the Greek community.
Here’s a tasty recipe:
1 medium onion minced.
Three 14.5 oz. cans of chick peas.
1 tablespoon of Curry powder.
Teaspoon of turmeric (optional)
½ of one large lemon.
Salt to taste.
Pepper flakes to taste.
About a ½ cup of cooking oil.
Remove the skin of the lemon, but leave the rest. All of the ingredients are mixed in the processor. MMMMMMMMMMM ……it’s soooooooo good! Use as a high protein sandwich spread or dip into the spread with cuts of vegetables: peppers, cauliflower, broccoli.