Sunday, May 8, 2011

Homemade refried beans and platanos maduros (fried plantains)


Sometimes we are like Jack Spratt and his wife.  I don't mind a little fat.  Tom is very suspicious of even the slightest sheen on his foods.  One place on which we differ is refried beans.  From my point of view, one can bring on the lard.  Tom likes his lard-free.  As the sweet, darling wife that I am (insert guffaw from Tom here), I made these for him.  In the crockpot. 

I love the crockpot.  I need to compose an ode to the crockpot. It saves my life, my sanity, my marriage on a weekly basis.

For the beans, I did this:
1 lb beans

1) Soak overnight with water 2" over beans and 1 T salt.  In the morning, rinse.
2)  In crockpot, cover beans with 2" of new water.  Add one chopped onion, 1/4 c chopped cilantro, 1/2 T ground cumin.  Set on low for 8ish hours.
3) Drain excess liquid (I used it as a soup).
4) Mash and serve.

For the platanos:
1 ripe plantain (has light brown spots on skin)
1) Slice diagonally into 1/4" slices.  Sprinkle lightly with salt.
2) Heat up 1 T oil over med-high heat.
3) Pan-fry the slices until crispy around the edges.  Flip, repeat.

I served both with cilantro lime rice.  Yum. Frugal. Yay.

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