schwager@uiucdcs.UUCP (08/09/84)
#N:uiucdcs:43200005:000:5052 uiucdcs!schwager Aug 8 18:37:00 1984 [is this line animal or vegetable?] Ok, guys and gals- the moment everyone's been waiting for... I finally get down to submitting recipes to net.veg! And to start, what say we go south of the border for some good Mexican fare? Here's my very own recipe for some yummy refried beans, to be included in bean burritos, tortilla chips, and bean dip. You can add a salad on the side. There's enough here for 4-5 people. Many of the ingredients are variable; no quantity is critical. Mexican food lovers, enjoy! List of ingredients: 4 cups pinto beans (you can substitute 1-1.5 cups soybeans if you want) 1 large onion 1 medium size jar taco sauce or the like (mild is best; you can pour on all the hot sauce you want later) Chunky type of sauces are the best. by the way, medium = ~12oz. 1 package flour tortilla shells 1 or 2 packages corn tortilla shells (get two if you like chips!) 3 cloves garlic OR garlic powder 2 tomatoes Half head leaf lettuce (head lettuce is okay, I guess) Vegetable oil 8-12 oz. Sharp Cheddar (best) Mild Cheddar (okay), or Colby (dubious) Cheese. 4 oz. Swiss Cheese (optional) Optional: container of plain yogurt or sour cream (about 8 oz.) Sour cream is more flavorful but also more decadent. I've found that putting some yogurt plus a small amount of medium hot taco sauce in the burrito tastes good. Start the beans early- at least 5 hours before dinner. Place the beans in a covered pot with 8-12 cups of water. The less water you use, the closer you'll have to watch it. Bring the pot to a boil, then turn the heat down LOW. You want a nice slow simmer. Squeeze in the garlic cloves, or add a teaspoon of garlic powder. Simmer the beans until soft- at least 3 hours, probably 5. Check the pot and stir every half hour or so. This is a good lazy-day type of meal to put together. As an alternative, you can start the beans soaking the night before. I'm not sure how long you need to boil them after that- an hour or two, I think. Just boil them till they're soft. If you start them very early and they get done way ahead of time, just let them sit around. They're going to get mashed up anyhow, so overcooking isn't a critical concern. The beans should be done at least half an hour before dinner. About 45 minutes before dinner, dice the onion and tomatoes, grate the cheese, and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place enough oil into a large frying pan to cover the bottom, and put in half the onions. Fry until translucent and soft. Your beans should be ready. Add half of them to the onions. Use a medium-low flame or heat. Now, using a potato masher or some other similar utensil (hmm... what else can you mash with? I don't know myself- a potato masher worked pretty well), mash up the beans to a consistency of paste. Add taco or burrito sauce to taste. Add water to get a nice smooth consistency. It shouldn't be runny, but it shouldn't be gnarly looking either. Guess what? You've just made vegetarian refried beans! Now place the beans in an uncovered casserole or crock pot. Add half to 2/3 of the Cheddar, and sprinkle in the Swiss cheese. Bake for about half an hour, or until the cheese on top starts to bubble. That's the bean dip. While it's baking, mash the second half of the beans and onions as before. I do it in two batches because it gets too unwieldly with all of it in the pan. Heat up a pot of oil, and slice the corn tortillas in sixths. Deep fry 'em until they get stiff. Do a few at a time. Don't wait till they brown, that means they're burnt! It only takes a minute for the chips to fry, so watch closely. Salt them as soon as they come out. I use Morton's Nature's Seasons, it adds a nice flavor to the chips. Use it sparingly, you're going to be dipping them anyhow. You can warm the chips up in the oven just before dinner if you want. Now everything should be ready to roll. You might want to make a salad with the leftover half of lettuce plus other veggies. Otherwise, it's a very bean-y affair. I've found that it's fun for people to assemble their burritos themselves, I just set out all the fixin's. Get another frying pan and warm it over a low flame or heat. Toss in a small splattering of water, and toss a flour tortilla over it. Silverstone or teflon is best for not sticking. You don't need the water necessarily, I've found that it helped, but if you use it I don't guarantee you can get the tortilla off of a non-teflon pan. As soon as the water evaporates, scoop up the tortilla, splatter some more water on the pan, and flip the tortilla into the pan. Put the tortilla on a plate when done, and place an elongated blob of refried beans on it. You can add lettuce, tomato, cheese (next to the beans so it melts a bit), yogurt or sour cream, and taco sauce as you please. This meal has gone over pretty well with my friends- it's cheap and easy also (my detailed explanation notwithstanding). And of course, we have complementary proteins (beans & grain). Enjoy! -mike schwager (...ihnp4!uiucdcs!schwager)
berry@zinfandel.UUCP (Berry Kercheval) (08/11/84)
Mmmm. Well done. A few points for net.veg readers:
1) Beware of frijoles refritos ("refried beans") in
Mexican restaurants. Even those that claim to
have vegetarian items often use lard in their beans.
The more authentic the restaurant, the more likely.
When in doubt, ask.
2) According to Diana Kennedy in her wonderful book on
Mexican cuisine (which I bought as a result of a
recommendation in net.cooks; thanks whoever you were!),
the mexican term 'frijoles refritos' does NOT in fact
mean refried beans. The 're-' prefix is a mexican
idiom meaning 'well' or 'highly' or 'greatly'. Thus
the real meaning of 'frijoles refritos' is 'WELL-fried
beans'.
--
"Remember, in volleyball you can only score when it's your serve."
Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry)
(415)932-6900bhaskar@fluke.UUCP (K.S. Bhaskar) (08/18/84)
My experience with Mexican restaurants is that 99+% use lard in their re-fried beans. For example, in the Seattle area, I know of only 4 Mexican restaurants that offer vegetarian beans. Whenever possible, I call up in advance and ask whether the restaurant corrupts its beans with lard, and, if it does, I politely say that I will be unable to patronize them because they do... [In the Seattle area, three restaurants serving vegetarian refritos are El Cafe (Roosevelt), Mazatlan (Bothell) and Mexicali Cafe (Everett). Also, Rosita's (Greenlake) will serve soupy, vegetarian, "home-style" beans on request.]