Bert’s Beans – Refried Beans

One summer in the late 1970s, when I was young and my brothers and I were away at overnight camp, my parents took a trip to Mexico. My father came back wanting to make two things: sandals and refried beans. For years we had boxes of stiff leather, used tires (for the soles), and other sandal-making supplies on our porch. I think at one point a pair was made for me, but I don’t remember wearing them more than once or twice. They weren’t very comfortable and looked homemade and were not the kind of thing a respectable 12 year old seeking approval from his peers would wear. My father must have done a cost-benefit analysis and eventually the boxes disappeared from our porch and the sandals from his feet. The refried beans, however, are still around.

My father periodically cooks huge cauldrons of spicy, smoky beans, which get frozen in smaller portions and eventually thawed and fried to be served for dinner. Brown and not particularly attractive on the plate, initially my older brothers and I refused to eat them. I was the first among my siblings to try them, but my brothers quickly followed. Eventually we would have refried beans tucked into homemade tortillas for dinner twice weekly – every Tuesday and Thursday.

Bert’s beans have withstood the test of time. I cook big pots and freeze them myself today. Like my brothers and I, my children initially refused to eat them; my daughter used to ask why I was eating a pile of sh*t, while she ate a meal with more color and crunch (her requirements when she was young). Now when we have refried beans for dinner, my children dig in and my daughter is especially happy because it usually means that sometime in the next few days we will have tortilla soup to use up the leftover tortillas. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go measure my children’s feet for a pair of sandals.

Refried Beans

Refried beans are not really refried. Apparently the term comes from a poor English translation of the Spanish term frijoles refritos or “well-fried beans.” While refried beans are not fried twice, they are cooked twice, the first being an hours-long stewing and the second a pan frying in some type of fat or oil. They are perfectly delicious either after the first or second cooking. While in my family we almost always eat them fried, they are excellent after the first cooking as a ladle-full of stewed beans with rice. When you get beans as a side dish in a Mexican restaurant, they are usually fried and mashed, with a puréed texture. When we fry Bert’s beans, we cook them until they are well-done and crispy. Not traditional, but perfect rolled in a tortilla with hot sauce or a spicy chili sauce.

Bert’s beans get their smoky, spicy flavor from two types of chilies: chipotles in adobo sauce, and fresh, long hot peppers. The chipotles in adobo (smoked jalapeños in a stewed, spiced tomato sauce available canned in most supermarkets – my father was using them long before they were popular) are essential. Since I like my food spicy, I use all parts of the long hot peppers, except the stem. If you like your food less spicy, remove the seeds and inner white membrane from the long hot peppers. That way you get the flavor of fresh peppers without as much heat. If you can’t find long hot peppers, fresh jalapeños could work, as would a tablespoon or two of crushed red pepper flakes.

Makes 4 to 5 quarts, each quart about 4 servings, 5 hours (4 hours mostly unattended), plus overnight soaking

For the stewed beans:

2 lbs. dried pinto beans, washed and picked over for stones and small debris

½ of a 7 oz. can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chilies chopped (reserve the remainder for another use in a glass jar in the refrigerator)

2 bay leaves

4 large onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped

⅓ cup vegetable oil

4 or 5 fresh long hot peppers, diced

1 Tbsp. salt

For frying the beans:

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 quart cooked beans

4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, cut into bite-size pieces

1. Pick over the dry beans for stones and debris and rinse. Place in a large stock pot and cover with at least two inches of water. Set beans aside to soak overnight.
2. The next morning strain the water from the beans. Leave the beans in the large stock pot and add the chopped chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, bay leaves, onions, garlic, vegetable oil, long hot peppers, and salt. Add water to cover by about a half inch.
3. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for four hours. Add more water a cup at a time if needed to keep the beans covered.
4. Allow beans to cool. They are now ready to fry or freeze in sealed plastic containers.
5. To fry, heat vegetable oil in a heavy 10-inch skillet on high. Add chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the edges of the onion start to brown.
6. Add one quart of beans and stir to mix with onion and oil. Mash the beans to a paste with a potato masher (or machacador – a Mexican bean masher) and continue to cook, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Cook the beans to desired consistency. In my family we cook them until they are almost crumbly and dry, with crispy bits.
7. Add the pieces of cheese and fold into the beans. When the cheese has mostly melted serve the beans with warm corn tortillas, hot sauce, and any other topping you can think of.

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