Refried beans / Frijoles Refritos:

    800g pinto or navy beans.

    ¼ cup pork lard (can use oil instead)

    ½ cup green olives, sliced

    ½ cup pickled serranos, seeded and diced

    250g Mexican chorizo

Cook beans following the pot bean recipe below

Once the beans are cooked strain and reserve the water. Blend the beans using a hand blender and some of the reserved water until the consistency is chunky.

Heat a medium sized pot with the pork lard and fry the chorizo until cooked, about 5 minutes.

Add the beans and fry for 10 minutes, then add the olives and chiles and cook for a few more minutes just before it starts to boil.
 

¡y listo! your refried beans are ready to be enjoyed

serves 8 as a side

Pot beans are at the heart of almost every Mexican meal. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, fill yourself and your family with the healthy, nourishing goodness of beans! This is a simple pot bean recipe so you can start to appreciate Mexican food at home any day of the week. Beans are great as a side dish or as a filling for your tacos and burritos!            

Pot Beans:

800g dry black beans

(we use black beans but you can use any dried beans that tickle your fancy)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large white onion charred and diced

3 cloves roasted garlic

1 bay leaf

1 small potato peeled and diced into large chunks

1 charred diced tomato

On a griddle pan or bbq char-grill your onion and tomato, then set aside 

In a large pot, fry the onion and the garlic in olive oil until they start to brown 

Add the potato and tomato and cook until they start to fall apart (the potato helps soften the skins of the beans) 

Add the beans and the bay leaf and then cover them completely with warm water 

Bring to a simmer and cook until beans are just cooked; approximately 3 hours - stir occasionally - season with Mixteca salt or sea salt

Serves 8 as a side dish - try topping with feta

Once you get the hang of it, making tortillas at home can be quite simple and even relaxing. Here is a simple recipe to get you started.

Tortillas

Makes about 16

2 cups masa

2 cups warm water

½ tsp fine salt

In a mixing bowl add the masa and salt and combine using your hands. Put on your gloves or coat your hands in Masa. Add 1 ½ cup of the water and mix well. Add the rest of the water bit by bit until the dough doesn’t stick on your hands anymore and is the right consistency. You may not need all of the water.

Divide dough into sixteen 50g balls.

Place one ball at a time on the middle of the tortilla press using two pieces of plastic, one on each side. and press.  If you don’t have tortilla press, you can use a big wooden chopping board or a rolling pin. Just don’t forget the plastic so that way the tortillas don't stick. Press or roll until you have a 7" circle.

Immediately place tortilla in preheated non stick pan and allow to cook for approximately 20 seconds. Turn tortilla over on second side and cook for another 30 seconds more, or until browned and slightly puffy. Repeat process with each ball of dough. Keep tortillas covered with a towel to stay warm and moist ready to serve. Enjoy!