How To Make Refried Pinto Beans

The pinto bean or any related bean like navy, kidney and black beans are excellent sources of fiber and folate. Fiber is essential for good digestive health, and it is known to help the cardiovascular system. The protein and sugars in beans are slow burning to help stabilize blood sugar levels to avoid spikes in energy.


There is zero cholesterol in dried and canned pinto beans. But avoid canned beans if you want some control over your salt intake.

Dried cooked beans have zero fat.

All choices of beans are also good sources of potassium, magnesium, vitamin B1, iron and tryptophan, an essential amino acid.

Beans are one of those foods like fruits and vegetables that that we should add to your diets to optimize your health and well being.

If you would like to read a thorough page on the benefits of beans this is where to go. Mothernature.com All the benefits of beans.

The other half of the world did not have beans until the Spanish brought them back to Europe from Peru. Pinto means "painted" in reference to the light brown splotches on the pinto bean.

When cooked the pinto turns a light pink brown. The cooking water is slightly thick, flavorful, and a deep taupe hue.

I can only speak for Southern California. The standard grocery market like Ralph's, Vons etc. have bulk pinto beans in produce and packaged in the dried beans section usually near the rice. I have a Latino swap meet near my house and I buy the beans there. I asked the vendor and he buys direct from the farmer.

Dried beans will store well for up to a year in an airtight container.


You even can buy pintos on the internet.
Here are two sites.

Redflower for dried pinto beans

Pinto Beans at BulkFoods.com

STEP ONE

Take a little less than four cups of dried beans and sort through them to clear out stones and debris. Broken ones do not matter. Rinse in a sieve till clean.

No need to soak but allow at least three hours stove time.

Use a 5 quart pan with a lid. Choose the heaviest pan you own, however, anything will work. Cover beans with three inches of water over the top of the beans. Remember that the beans will expand. Have about three more inches of pan left for expanding.

STEP TWO

Fire it up with medium heat. A slow start will cause less breakage for salads, chili and other whole bean dishes. It may take 45 minutes or more to get a low boil going. Check the pot and adjust the heat for a steady simmer.

Now you check occasionally to add hot water and give it a very gentle stir with a wooden spoon. Don't forget because at this stage the beans will absorb the water and the pot will need replenishing of water.

In less than an hour you will have a house full of fresh pinto bean aroma. They will be tender between 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hrs after the first hot simmer. Test for desired tenderness.

Done. Turn off the fire.

STEP THREE

The cooked beans will have a slightly thick sauce that you will use when mashing. I like mashed beans with lots of liquid. Like hot pudding texture or thick tomato sauce. So it sticks to a tortilla but doesn't run off. Not that thick canned stuff.

Now for the mashing. How to make the refried beans.

Recently, my husband and I were thinking the refried beans needed new flavor. I have gone back to adding a scant 1/2 teaspoon of lard. That practice is not vegetarian, but variations can make refried beans wholly vegan. Fry the lard, or your favorite oil, for half a minute and add the pinto beans.

My family of four are light eaters so about four ladles of beans and the liquid go into pan. This is the time to add the salt and a touch of garlic or onion powder. Lower heat and mash with a potato masher. Add more beans, salt or liquid to adjust consistency and taste. Add water if you need to or heat some more for thicker beans.

Simple, isn't it? Add any extra taste ingredients just before serving.

Serve with carne asada, pulled pork, chicken or seasoned hamburger, red rice and tortillas. Bring out your favorite bottled red and green salsa.

Optional garnishes are green onion, cilantro, sliced radishes, shredded crisp lettuce, Mexican cheese or Jack cheese.

Buy at AllPosters.com

My husband's family was from Jalisco State and pintos were their main stay. Black beans are used in Vera Cruz with the more Caribbean favors of that area. The swap meet vendor has the black beans next to the pintos and they look so colorful with the rich black hue and the white dot on each bean.

The other week I bought a couple of pounds. Ed remarks, "Why are you buying those?"

"Marcy and I are experimenting with a soup we found on a can. We want to use dried beans instead of canned."

Cooking the black beans was just as easy as the pintos. They were smaller and it took less time to cook. I used the same method as above. The soup was delicious.

Read it here.
Black Bean Soup You Will Make Again and Again

A big pot of beans means you have beans to freeze for later. I have used for twenty years the square round small Tupperware containers. They fill to just the right amount for a family meal. I will get four or five containers to put in the freezer from my pot. Save some of the thick liquid with each container.

Remember to let the beans cool before freezing.

This method is so easy for having beans handy to refry on a later day.









To defrost I put the frozen block of beans in the fry pan and turn up the heat high or low depending on how much of a hurry I am in. Mash when they defrost down to liquid.

Follow the refried beans recipe in Step Three above.

Bam! Fresh homemade Mexican refried beans anytime.

En dondequiera se cuesen habas.

Beans are cooked everywhere.
or
If you try hard enough, you can accomplish almost anything.

Aranda, Charles. Dichos. Proverbs and Sayings From the Spanish. New Mexico: Sunstone Press, 1977.