Refried Beans

I am a big fan of my slow cooker but often times things cooked in the slow cooker aren't as delicious as I had hoped.  This is not one of those times.

I had wanted to try making refried beans for quite awhile and finally got around to it.  It really couldn't be easier and if you can find a cheap source of pinto beans (I'm not sure if there is an expensive source actually) they are really easy on the food budget.

I used two cups of dried pinto beans, a small onion, a clove of garlic, a jalapeno pepper, a tablespoon of salt, a teaspoon of pepper, and a quarter teaspoon of cumin.  (I found the finished product to be a little too salty so I will reduce the amount of salt next time and probably add another jalapeno or some cayenne for more heat).

I chopped the vegetables and added them to my slower cooker with the rest of the ingredients.

I then added six cups of water, covered the slower cooker, and turned it on high.

The recipe I was using said the beans should cook for about eight hours but after four they were getting pretty soft so I turned the temperature down to low and let them sit until dinner time.

I poured the beans in to a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the liquid.  I then transferred the beans to a pot where I smashed them with a potato masher.  I used a couple of spoonfuls of the reserved cooking liquid until the beans were the texture I was looking for.

Though the whole process took most of the day from start to finish, the actual work time was only a matter of minutes.  And the results were super tasty.