Refried Beans

Last week my cooking group learned a lot about beans, which luckily are one of my favorite foods. So yesterday I invited my nephew to come make refried beans with me. We used them as a filling and side for another dish I'll post about later, pupusas (pooh-pooh-suhs). For any that haven't cooked with dried beans, the flavor really is very different from canned beans and although they took some time, it wasn't active time. Give them a try.

1 lb. dried beans (we used pinto, but I'll be trying black very soon)
10 c. cold water
Sort through beans and remove any broken, gnarly of discolored beans; also remove any rocks or debris you might find (picture is of the rejected beans). Rinse beans thoroughly. Add beans and cold water to a large pot. Bring beans to a boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes. Cover and remove from heat and allow to sit for about 4 hours for the beans to soften. (If you think about this earlier, you can just let them soak overnight in a pot of cold water, in the morning rinse). Drain and rinse beans. Rinse out pot. Put beans back in pot and add enough water to cover beans by about 2 inches. Add 1 onion (cut in half), 6 cloves of garlic (whole), and about 1/4 green pepper and 2-3 tsp. chicken flavoring. You can also add a little oil so it doesn't boil over. (I chose to add 2 slices of bacon, but I could taste the bacon in the beans and would only do that again if I were making a soup.)
Bring the beans to a boil, cover loosely with a tipped lid and simmer for 1-2 hours.
When the beans are tender, remove the onions, garlic, etc. and drain most of the 'juice', reserving some. Use (immersion) blender to puree beans to desired consistency. I like some whole beans in mine, but it is ok to puree completely. Coat a large skillet generously with oil (olive, vegetable, etc.). On med-high heat add 1/2 onion, sliced. Cook onion until very brown, carefully remove onion slices. Add bean puree to oil (this will bubble since you are frying). Cover and continue to stir for about 10 minutes until thick. Serve. These will store a good week in the fridge or can be frozen.
These were very tasty but I could not get a photo to do them justice, they all looked like something not so appetizing.

Update: I now cook my beans in a pressure cooker. Sort and rinse beans as above. Soak beans in water overnight. Drain the beans. In a pressure cooker, heat about 2 TBSP. oil, add about 1/4 of an onion, chopped and a clove of garlic, rough chopped. Saute for a minute until fragrant and tender. Follow instructions with pressure cooker, with mine it is about 2 c. beans with about 4 c. water depending on the type of bean. Bring to full pressure over medium high heat, reduce to medium/low to maintain steady pressure for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the type of bean. Allow to cool, then drain off bean juice, reserving. Using an immersion blender puree beans to desired consistency adding juice as necessary. When it is time to fry the pureed beans, heat oil in a large skillet. 'Season' oil with onions, garlic and chili peppers. Remove everything but the oil and carefully add the beans. Fry until thickened and tasty.