Okay.....so here's a good question:: What exactly am refried beans? I make something that looks and tastes like refried beans, but it's more like smashed beans and flavors. No frying has been done. I've also done it with black beans.

I use my baby food processor attachment and grind a can of pinto beans along with some cilantro, raw garlic and onions, a smidge of chili powder & cumin and black and white. I use that to smear on the inside shell of burritos and enchiladas. It tastes good. It only takes 30 mins to make

I wasn't even thinking about the fact that you're making burritos when I was talking about the Wesson oil. That would be a corn tortilla chimichanga...which would be just fine. Not a 'rito though.

So basically you made your own chorizo filling for some breakfast time burritos? Not breakfast burritos. Regular burritos. For breakfast. The exact opposite of breakfast for dinner!!
 
Yes Amigo, refried beans are fried - twice. Most people use Pinto Beans but Grandma used King City Pink Beans. A very high quality bean. First you visually clean the beans. Remember the teeth you are saving may be your own :yoinks:. Wash the beans and cover with water and bring to a boil. Add water as you cook to just cover the beans. Boil for 1 hour and test for doneness by pinching when they just yield to a soft squeeze they are done. Now add salt. This is where they are fried for the first time. Remove the spoon from the pot. You want to heat a pan of lard - bacon fat, sausage drippings, lard that has been used to fry chips and chicken in other words what you have that has flavor and not just fresh lard. Heat this lard to smoking hot and pour enough to cover the entire top of the beans. Long sleeves and gloves recommended as the smoking hot oil will sizzle coming out of the beans. This will form a "cap" over the top of the beans prevnting them from souring while they cool. This method evolved to preserve the beans before refrigeration was invented. Cool the beans to room temperature then refrigerate at least overnight. A day or two is better. Put the beans in a different heavy bottom pot and bring them to a boil. This is where you mash them. I use an immersion blender now. So much easier. If they are too runny you must just cook them down, If they are too thick you can add a little water. When they are the consistency you want correct the salt. Now you fry them again. This time you just stir the smoking hot lard into the beans until you get a shinny surface.

Ps. It is indeed a great breakfast burrito. There are unlimited variations. I especially like having chicharrones instead of the chorizo.
 
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Oh boy just saying "The five Mother sauces" causes culinary school flashbacks. How bout you Frank ? :rofl: There is a sauce that is not talked about much. It is not a Mother sauce but "pot licker" stock and sauces are also very tasty. They are made with sausage stocks.
Chicken thighs bone in with Sweet baby Rays caramelized on them. "Some just eat and others eat well" :stir:
 

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Damn....that's like an entire family tree of old world craftiness. You ever stop and wonder how some of these things came to be?

I absolutely love the multiple day process...you gotta appreciate the amount of 'skin in the game'. Not to mention, any technique that gets passed through the generations has to good just by design.

I celebrated my 18th birthday down in the Yucatan during spring break. Wow. We rented a little 4x4 Suzuki Samurai with decent knobby tires and a 5 speed gearbox, that had a little generator mounted in the hatch along with a freaking battery charger and pancake compressor. This thing was a beach machine complete with everything you need to drive on the sand and crank the tunes. It was a freaking blast, we took that thing EVERYWHERE.

We really enjoyed getting out of the city. The food was so freaking cheap that we wound up eating out every single day, in some cases multiple times. We went out for dinner at least 10 times in a 2 week stay. We were walking out the doors with $25-40 bills....for 3-4 people, with apps, drinks and in some cases desserts. Even in Cancun the food was insanely affordable....everywhere we went was 2 for 1 drinks or Ladies Night or whatever...we would order a drink and they would hand you two. The exchange rate between USD and N.P.s was jumping all over the place too...it would shifted from about 5.5:1 to almost 8:1 at it's highest. So if you cash in $100 at the right time, you got 800 or so back.

It was an amazing trip...college girls everywhere, food, drinks, the Suzuki, fishing went to Chichén Itzá and Tulum and climbed around the Mayan ruins and the jungle.

i could imagine some old ladies cooking this in some huge iron cauldron hanging over a fire...tending it for days until it's perfect. Thanks for sharing. That's super cool.
 
I sous vide two boneless skinless chicken breasts with salt , pepper and fresh Tarragon. 2 hours at 150°F. It is a little too tender for the salad so next time more Tarragon and 2 hours at 155°F

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Those are some pig pigs. I made some incredible roasted roots the other night. The pics are on my buddies phone because mine done runt out of joosey.

I put em in at 385°F for about 45 mins, then covered em tight for half an hour and then cranked it up to 425° with the cover back off for about 20 mins. The carrots were done perfectly. I wanted to achieve a good balance between nice and tender, but with a little color...not soggy...let the steam escape.
 
I love roasted roots….. I could easily develop a problematic addiction to roasted parsnips, but have thus far narrowly kept it under control :haha: sounds like a good technique you’ve got there doc.

@Mañ'O'Green you seem to be putting that sous vide to good use, chix salad looks fantastic

I’ve got osso bucco going at the moment
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