Burritos with re-fried beans

My kids love burritos, but only if they can have guacamole with them. In San Francisco it was easy enough. Just trot down the road to any old Mexican restaurant and buy some. Things are not as simple here in Germany. Yes we do have Mexican restaurants but we have not yet been able to find a good one. We have tried. The best one is run by a Sri Lankan and the food tastes like you would expect Mexican food in Sri Lanka to taste like!

Of course you could just eat it without the wrap!

So there is no choice but to make everything from scratch. At least I have found places to buy the tortillas because making them is a pain in the .... Salsa and guacamole taste really bad here in DE, so we have to make that from scratch. As a result we only make this when the tomatoes are red and ripe and the avocados are on sale.

Here is what you need to put together a burrito:

• Tortilla wraps
• Re-fried beans
• Guacamole
• Salsa
• Sour cream
• Grated cheddar cheese

Optional

• Mexican rice
• Grated iceberg salad

And of course tortilla chips on the side. 

Refried beans sprinkled with cheese

Chunky salsa

Re-fried beans

I picked up some really nice avocados last week, so we had to make some guacamole and everything else that goes with it. In our house that includes re-fried beans. The beans are super easy to make if you have access to canned kidney beans. If you don't have the canned variety you can use the dried ones, but then the process takes way longer. Just soak your beans for a good 8 hours and then boil them until they are tender. I can't tell you how long it takes or how many beans to use, because I have never done it myself. If you do try it share it in the comments below so we can all profit from it.

Preparation time: 30 minutes ; serves 4 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp.	Oil
250 g	Diced onions
1/2 tsp.	Garlic puree
2 cans	Kidney beans (1 can = 425 g)
1 tsp.	Cumin powder
1 tsp.	Coriander powder
1/2 tsp.	Salt
150 ml	Water + possibly more

Method:

This recipe is pretty simple. The key to perfection is to cook it in a heavy bottomed pan. I use a cast iron frying pan. There are two reasons for this choice. The first being that the beans are less likely to burn and the other you will find out later!

You can add more or less onion and garlic depending on your taste so go ahead and experiment. I usually use yellow onions, but I assume you can use any available type.

While the onions are doing their thing crack open the cans of beans, empty them into a colander, drain the liquid and rinse them under running water. Of course not forgetting to stir the onions every now and then!

Place the pan on medium-high heat and heat the oil. Once the oil is hot enough add the onions and fry them for a couple of minutes. If you are not sure when your oil is not enough don't fret. It doesn't really matter! Sometimes I just put my onions in before the oil is really hot and it does not seem to do any harm. If you like the taste of caramelized onions you can fry them until they are slightly brown, otherwise once they start looking transparent should do. The main thing is that they are evenly cooked, so stir them every now and then.

Once the onions are cooked to your satisfaction add the garlic and fry for another 1 - 2 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients into the frying pan, stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat so that the beans remain simmering. Now comes the fun part (and the second reason for using a cast iron pan). To make your beans come together they need to be mashed. If you like your beans to be a smooth paste you could always put your beans into a food processor before adding them to the frying pan. However, we like a bit of texture in this household so I use first the back of a wooden spoon and then I move to a potato masher. Of course it would be much more efficient to just use the masher but I really like attacking the beans and crushing them with a wooden spoon. At some point I get bored with it and that is when I move to the potato masher!

When you mash the beans the insides come out and start forming a paste. This absorbs a lot of the water that you added to the pan. The beans should not dry out, so keep a jug of water on the side and add about a 1/4 cup when ever you feel like the beans are sticking to the bottom of the pan. Mix it in well each time and continue mashing until you have the desired consistency. I cannot tell you what this is, it will depend on your taste. All I can say is that if you don't smash any of the beans you won't have real re-fried beans :(

Serve with mexican rice, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, grated cheese or wrap it up and make a burrito.

Mexican (Spanish?) Rice

There is a controversy in our household as to whether this is a Mexican recipe or a Spanish one. I'm guessing you could eat it with either type of food. Our main use of this rice is to stuff it into burritos which is why I claim that it is Mexican! We love burritos and I am a bit bewildered as to why I have not posted our favourite burrito fillers yet! I shall have to look into this. If I ever get round to posting instructions on how to put a burrito together I will link it here.

Preparation time: 1 hour; Serves 8 (with side dishes) 

Ingredients:

350 g	12 oz	Tomato (the riper and redder the better)
75 g	1 medium	Onion
3		Jalapenos (optional)
400 g	2 cups	Basmati rice
75 ml	1/3 cup	Oil
4 cloves	1.5 tsp.	Garlic, minced
475 ml	2 cups	Water
1		Veggie cube
1 tbsp.		Tomato paste
1.5 tsp		Salt
0.5 cup		Cilantro, chopped
1		Lemon

Method:

Take your tomatoes and onions and put them into your favourite food processor. Puree them and measure out 2 cups (a little under 500 ml). Don't worry if you have small pieces of tomato skin in your puree. It makes the rice look nicer in the end. If you have more than 2 cups of puree do not be tempted to put it in the rice. The rice will get too soggy. Of course you could reduce the amount of water and substitute it with any left over puree.

Mince your chilies (if using) and garlic and then wash your rice. Wash it under cold water and keep washing until the water is only slightly milky. The more starch you get rid of the less sticky your rice will be (at least if you are using basmati). Drain well.

The rice needs to be baked in the oven so make sure you pick a pan, with a fitting lid, that can be put in the oven. Make sure it is large enough to deal with the expanding rice. Now heat this pan on medium high and add the oil. Now is also the time to put your oven on at 160 C for a fan oven or 180 C (350 F) for a conventional oven.

Now back to your oil. You will know if the oil is hot enough because the oil will sizzle when the rice is added. Add a grain to check. Once the oil is hot add the rice and fry. Keep on stirring it to prevent it from burning. It should be fried for 6 - 8 minutes, until some of it is golden brown.

Reduce the heat to low and stir in the garlic and chili. Stir continuously until it is well distributed. It always takes me forever to get the garlic well combined, but it is quite essential so that no one ends up with a clump of garlic in their rice.

Now stir in the water, vegetable cube, puree, tomato paste and salt. Just for the record: tomato paste is highly concentrated tomato. I don't know what you could substitute it with if you could not get it but I personally would just omit it rather than use some other tomato product. Mix everything well and increase the temperature to medium high. Bring the whole thing to a boil.

Once it boils take it off the stove top and put it in the oven. The rice should bake for 30 minutes and it needs to be stirred in the middle. So set your timer for 15 minutes, take the pot out of the oven and stir it. Replace the lid and pop it back in for a further 15.


Once you take the rice out of the oven (be careful someone always burns themselves on the hot pan!) add the cilantro and the juice of 1 lime and mix well.

Your rice is now ready to serve. You can add it to a burrito or just use it as your main staple. Try mixing other things into it to turn it into a one pot meal.