Archive for October, 2007

After a few requests for my recipe on refried beans I decided that maybe someone actually does want the recipe. And this time I actually do remember ‘about’ what I put in them!

This time around I did not have the time to cook the beans myself so I bought them from the store in 28oz cans already cooked. Pinto beans.

• 5 cans 28oz Pinto Beans
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 Onion diced
• 1 Tablespoon Chicken soup base (or maybe 2 or 3 of those bouillon cubes)
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Dried Cilantro (although fresh would probably be better)
• 1 or 2 Tablespoons Roasted Cumin (more about this later)
• 1 Lime (for juice)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you can take it)
• Salt & Pepper to taste if needed (I did not need this after using the chicken bouillon)

Start in pot on medium to medium high heat and melt butter. Then add diced onion and cook/saute stirring occasionally until onion is translucent. Add 3 cans of beans, 2 Cup of water, chicken bouillon, stir and heat till boiling, reduce to simmer or slow bubbles. Using hand potato masher or stick blender bring the beans to a smooth or almost smooth puree consistency. Now add garlic powder, roasted cumin, and dried cilantro to beans and stir.

Add the next 2 cans of beans, stir. If consistency is to watery then let it simmer for awhile and keep checking on it. If it is to thick then just add a little water (or more butter for a creamier taste and consistency). Let simmer a few more minutes. If you want the texture of the refried beans to all be the same then add all the cans of beans together then use potato masher or stick blend to desired smoothness. And of course for chunkier beans just add and skip that step. The more you cook them the more they will naturally break down.

Pull from stove top/eye and cut lime in half in order to squeeze the juice in, stir then cover till ready to use.

* NOTES ON ROASTED CUMIN: Use whole cumin seeds and roast/saute them in a pan over stove top/eye till you smell a smoky but not burnt smell and the seeds seem more caramel or toasted in color then grind in coffee bean grinder. Or if you have powdered cumin you can repeat the same process but with more tosses of the pan so as not to burn the powder because it will ‘toast’ more quickly. You can also do this in the oven, but with using such a small amount that would be overkill unless you already had your oven on for something else. Pan sauteing (roasting) will be quicker. If you don’t want to grind the seeds then start them when you start the onions in the pot to get the desired taste (although you may have to pick a cumin seed or two out of your teeth later, but usually they soften up sufficiently to not be worried about them).

I personally like a few dashes of Cholula hotsauce or Chipotle Tabasco right before serving.

clipped from blog.ruhlman.com Beauty Itself   On a recent trip to Durham I taped an interview with the NPR affiliate WUNC during which I suggested that one of five things you should eat before you die is the meat of a freshly slaughtered animal, preferably having witnessed the slaughter. Verlyn Kinkenborg says something very much the same in “Two Pigs” on the Times editorial page today, but with considerably more eloquence Posted by michael ruhlman | Permalink

I vaguely keep up with the culinary world at large since I am in the food service industry and felt compelled to share the above post clipped from another site I frequent.

There were many comments that ranged from mild to ludicrous but I wanted to weigh in with my own thoughts on that matter and maybe bring up something to think about when you sit down for your next meal. The following was my comment I left there:

Couple of comments…

I have witnessed a few slaughters, both in this country and in others…

It may give you more respect for the process, but not for the animal per se…the animal doesn’t care what respect it gets once its dead and whats the point in having respect for an animal because you saw it slaughtered?

What makes it ‘noble’ to see a slaughter? Or double points?

Come on, what Ruhlman said was “I suggested that one of five things you should eat before you die is the meat of a freshly slaughtered animal, preferably having witnessed the slaughter.”

Witnessing the slaughter came second to eating the meat in his statement.

The education, process, and knowledge behind the slaughter is whats beneficial towards appreciating food…isn’t that why we shout, wine, and cry over the outrageous facts we find out about processed food and soy product substitutes being mixed in with our ‘Big Burger’ at the fast food restaurants? Or the additives, preservatives, handling, and/or lack of taste from buying our meat at the grocery store?

Of course you can feel a sense of pride, accomplishment, and/or achievement over catching, killing, and preparing your own food; MEAT or VEGETABLE. Because you have brought it full circle. It should taste better because you have been there for every step of the process, the finished meal was your creation, you do not have any questions about the practices of how it got to your plate…you have replaced the uncertainty of the dish with complete knowledge of what it takes to get it to the table.

This is a basic principle that you have been taught and practiced since childhood (no, not slaughter) when you tell everyone else to back off and let you do or experience it all. Sometimes you regret it, sometimes you love it, sometimes it changes your life whether positively or negatively.

Ever had Iguana? I wish I had left it alive…its better as a pet, or free running lizard.

tyrone

My wife will be back tomorrow…I miss her!

Its like I don’t know what to do with myself.  Being single is great, but being by yourself when your married gets old after you have seen all the violent actions flicks, read all the books you can stand to read (which is usually just part of one book) and realize you have trained yourself to sleep on just one side of the bed…and you don’t deviate from it even when she’s gone!

Its sad going around with people always asking you were your wife is, or what she’s doing…makes you lonely and brooding.  Starts breaking down that rough manly exterior.

Even my mistress (My Culinary DVD’s/Food Network Shows) gets old when my wife is gone…

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