Skip to main content

Refried Beans and Potatoes Tortillas


Favorites.  Favorites are stupid as nobody has an absolute favorite of anything.  Especially when people start down the narrow roads of favoritism.  With that my favorite food is Mexican.  My favorite Mexican dish on the other hand will depend on the day, the location, the restaurant, the company, the weather, the sun and moon alignment to each other.  Get my point, right?  How can I compare plain-o-jane-o cheese enchiladas to green chicken enchiladas, simple cheese nachos to nachos grande, or debate corn vs flour tortillas or refried, pinto, or charro beans.  They all have a special place.

Having had a debate of homemade flour tortillas to store bought uncooked flour tortillas with my aunt I decided to prove my point that there is nothing better than homemade tortillas.  Nothing.  When looking for my favorite flour tortilla recipe I stumbled across Flour and Potato Tortillas and new these had to be made instead.  To eat flour tortillas by themselves seems childish so Easy Refried Beans were made, too.  Bean and tortillas.  Tortillas and beans.  A matched made for perfection.

Modifications Made:
Tortillas: Every other flour tortilla (or Chinese pancake) says the longer the dough rests the better.  Dough rested for about an hour instead of the stated 10 minutes.

Refried Beans: Written as followed but found water was needed to create thickness desired.  Wanted almost a creamy texture in beans not a wall plaster consistency.  

Scaled for Likability:
Tortillas: GREAT!

This recipe starts off with such a simple statement " I love fresh flour tortilla, whether they're homemade or purchased from one of the local tortilla shops.  But tortillas on day two are never as good.  Either they get brittle or rubbery.  But they never stay nicely flexible.  These do."  Oh my chewy goodness no truer statement has ever been said in regards to the state of homemade tortillas.  So good straight off the griddle with butter, beans, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, nothing.  A few hours later Frisbees.  I cannot attest to the few hours later test much less the next day test as there were none left.  NONE!  Potato flakes, who knew? 

Refried Beans: Good

Homemade refried beans have been made numerous times over the years.  Heaping tablespoon of bacon grease in a skillet, add drained pinto bean, one teaspoon of chili powder, half teaspoon of comino, salt and pepper to taste and mash with spoon while stirring in water by the tablespoon to desired consistency.  Easy peasy.  

In this recipe fresh onion and garlic was sauteed before adding beans and seasonings.  Cannot say the onions and garlic added a layer of flavor to the beans that powder wouldn't have offered.  What I can say is the bacon grease was clearly missed but the lime juice was nice touch.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup.  Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too.  Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup  are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water.  Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender.  Green be
Read more

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It  is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6  Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes).  Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft.  Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water).  Bring to a boil and then add potatoes.  Cover and reduc
Read more

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over.  There are so many more potato recipes saved.  Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes.  With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive.   The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half.  Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe.  These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted.  Bummer.  Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough.  Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,
Read more