Refried Beans

Yep, you guessed it, I'm on a mexican kick again and I realized, I don't think I ever shared my AMAZING refried bean recipe with you! Sure there are tons of recipes out there and of course you can buy it in a can and have it loaded with salt and tasteless if you choose, but I have a secret weapon. I'm not going to tell you what it is just yet. You'll have to check out the recipe for that. At any rate, these refried beans are creamy, kind of spicy and just about the best thing you will ever put in your mouth!

What You Need:

1lb dried pinto beans
1 carton (approx 4 cups) beef or chicken stock
1 jalapeño pepper
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
1/4 lb panchetta, diced
1 tsp oil
salt and pepper
1/4 c tequila <-- secret weapon

What To Do:

Rinse and sort your beans, place them into a pressure cooker or a heavy bottomed pot. Add in 1 of the onions, diced, two chopped cloves of garlic, and the jalapeño chopped, seeds and all. Add in the stock, cumin and oregano, give it a stir to combine. Put the lid on your pressure cooker and cook for 1 hour, or probably two in a regular pot. The beans should just be tender. Turn everything off and let the beans sit for about 4 hour, or until they're pretty well cool. Leave the lid on the pot too. This lets the beans suck in all the flavor of the cooking liquid.
In a large sautee pan over medium heat, cook the diced panchetta in the oil until browned and crispy. Add in the other diced onion, and minced garlic. Once they've turned translucent and are softened, season with salt and pepper and stir in the red pepper flakes.
There shouldn't be a whole lot of liquid left in your beans. They should have absorbed almost all of it. I was left with less than a cup. If you have more then that, use a slotted spoon to transfer your beans into the sautee pan, otherwise, just pour everything into it. Take a potato masher and start mashing your beans. I like to leave some beans sort of whole, so I don't mash everything completely. Give it a stir and it should be nice and creamy. Stir in the tequila, and cook for about 5 minutes over medium low so that the alcohol cooks off. If your beans look a little dry, add in some water or if you have it, the reserved cooking liquid. If you like, stir in a bit of fresh cilantro before serving.