Guatemala Frijoles Volteados

Before heading to Guatemala to help work on the Word Of Life camp there, someone informed me they would be serving something that looked like a ‘big black goo ball’. He said, “Eat it.”

When I saw it being served up, I already knew I was going to at least try it.

It was Y.U.M.M.Y.!!!

The ‘goo ball’ was refried black beans. Anything that has ‘fried’ in the title of the food sounds good to me!

On our first trip, I asked how they made them. They spoke back to me in Spanish and all I could understand was black beans, onions and garlic.

On our second trip, Marcela Martinez showed me how they fry them.

Still no measurements. I am a measurement kind of girl. I MUST have measurements!!

You know I tried this out first. Within about 4 days, the whole crock pot was eaten by my husband and I. (Well, just a tiny bit was eaten by my snow party buddies… you know who you are.)  They must have been good.

In my humble opinion, these are WAY better than canned and are comparable to the ones I had in Guatemala. I can’t remember exactly the way they tasted.... it has been two years since I had them.

Measurements of ingredients:

2 cups of dry black beans

5 cups of water

½ cup of chopped onion

2 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon

(this is not a cube - it is a smooth paste - I found it at the Whole Food store - the name brand I bought was "Better Than Bouillon".)

1 teaspoon of salt

1 bay leaf

Put all the ingredients in your crock pot.  Cook on low for at least 8 hours – or until the beans are soft).

Or you could cook it while you sleep... night night crockpot.

When they are finished cooking, remove the bay leaf.

Pour everything else into your blender and liquify.

True refried beans are made with LOTS of lard. I am planning to make my own lard soon. I have everything except the cheesecloth. I’ll save that for another post.

You can use Crisco or better yet, if you have some bacon – fry it and save the fat. You can use this to refry your beans in. Also, I do not use a LOT. Most recipes recommend ½ cup of lard for 2 cups of cooked beans – gross… that is TOO much lard. I used about 1 tablespoon and it was enough.

The beans will be VERY runny when you first pour them into your skillet. 

I fried them on medium heat and stirred them around until most of the water cooked out of them and they thicken up to about the consistency of ketchup. 

These beans are kinda like gravy - once they begin to cool down, the really start to thicken up.

They are done and ready to eat.

You may serve them with scrambled eggs for breakfast. 

Or, you can eat them whatever way you like them.

Or - if you want a really yummy treat, sprinkle some sugar on top.

HEY… don’t knock it ‘til you try it.

These beans freeze perfectly.  I pour about 1/3 into my skillet to fry right then for breakfast - they smell TOO yummy to wait.  Then I freeze two more containers for future breakfasts.

ENJOY!