THANKS desert & eman!
I always thought that was a misnomer, refried, but in Spanish it means "well fried" not "twice fried."
A lot of those recipes you boil & mash, though some end up fried.
I found a simple explanation:
I don’t know why they call them refried. I see that you have listed this question under "vegetarian" but I’ll tell you that most of the really authentic refried bean recipes use lard to fry them. Lard of course is pig fat. So if you want vegetarian refried beans do not use lard. In fact, if you want even partially healthy refried beans, do not use lard. Saturated, you know. Recipes for refried beans can be very free form. Cook pinto beans, preferably with some onion and garlic. Heat oil in fry pan. Add drained, cooked beans. Mash them. Add some cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Voila -- refried beans that are not refried, only fried once.
I also found this, using a pressure cooker:
Refried Beans Recipe
Frijoles Refritos
Pinto beans, prepared Mexican style, are such a staple in our house a week rarely goes by without my mother making up a batch. Although beans have a relatively long shelf life, the older they are the longer you'll have to cook them to get them to soften. Find a source that supplies fresh beans. If you have some that have been sitting around for a year, don't even bother with them, throw them out.
"Refried" is actually a misnomer. Refritos means "fried", not "refried", though you can certainly reheat the beans as you go through a batch. Before frying them though you'll need to cook them, in water, to soften them. There are basically two ways to initially cook the beans - with a pressure cooker and without. Since we make beans so often, we use a pressure cooker. It greatly cuts down on the cooking time. Here are directions for both methods.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb or 450gm)
3 quarts of water
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
2 Tbsp pork lard, bacon fat, or olive oil (for vegetarian option)
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
Cheddar cheese (optional)
1 Rinse the beans in water and remove any small stones, pieces of dirt, or bad beans.
2 Cook the beans in water.
Pressure Cooker method Put beans into a 4 quart pressure cooker with a 15 lb weight. Fill up the pressure cooker with water, up to the line that indicates the capacity for the pot. Cook for 30-35 minutes - until the beans are soft and the skins are barely breaking open.
Regular method Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water - about 3 quarts for 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the batch of beans you have. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.
Strain the beans from the cooking water.
3 Add the onions and lard/fat/oil to a wide, sturdy (not with a flimsy stick-free lining) frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. (Note the onions are optional, you can skip them if you want.) Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste. Add a few slices of cheddar cheese, or some (1/2 cup) grated cheddar cheese if you want. When beans are heated through (and optional cheese melted) the beans are ready to serve.
Note that many recipes call for soaking the beans overnight and discarding the soaking liquid. We don't. We discard the cooking liquid and just add some water back into the frying pan when we are frying the beans.
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OK, my intention wasn't to make them from scratch but my Dutch's Wicked Beans are nice & spicy, with intense flavor from the prolonged smoke, not to mention the Honey BBQ suace instead of the ketchup (I was out.) The only other changes were heavier on the onions & peppers, a dash of smoked paprika and a sprinkling of homemade heirloom garlic powder. Also, the bacon was black pepper bacon.
I put the beans in quart containers for now, in refrigerator. I can literally stand a fork up in them at virtually any angle I want without it falling over, they are nice & thick and almost dark brown.
I will try to mash or beat or whip some of them, I'm looking for the consistency of refried beans but the hot & sweet tangy taste of my take on Dutch's Wicked Beans. I don't know if it will be necessary to
re-cook them in a pan, I may be able to just microwave on the final dinner plate.
My Mom is 82 and dying of Alzheimers & she never liked spicy or even Mexican or Tex-Mex foods, but she LOVES Wicked Beans!
