Completing the meal

By: 
Keith Bryant
 Championship Sunday is in the books. We had a great time at the Lazy Bear Ranch and were able to share the day with people that have supported Tim and I earlier in the football season. 
 I decided to just put up an all-you-can-eat buffet on Sunday with a taco bar. I wanted more than just plain old tacos, so I went all out and made traditional carne asada with a 6 day marinade and pork al pastor, which for some reason everyone thought was chicken.
 The asada recipe I have shared before, but if you want to know about it please subscribe to the Weiser Signal American digital edition where you will find a lot of my recipes archived and available. 
 Speaking of recipes, there has been a little interest in the paper and I producing a cookbook for print or digital copy. I am working on that now and will keep you up to date on our progress. 
 If there is a particular recipe that you have seen over the years and would like it added to the book please email me at boatchef@aol.com or the paper at mgr@signalamerican.com.
 To finish off the buffet this past weekend you always need a nice portion of refried beans and rice. 
 Now I know you can just buy the beans in a can, but my friend Trish taught me there is no substitute for making the real thing and with the instapot it could not be easier. 
 I looked up the real history of refried beans and how they came to be, then set out to make some that would kick it up a notch. 
 With a name like refried beans you would think they are cooked twice, but the true meaning is “well fried” or “intensely fried,” as that translates from Spanish. 
 So if you are in a Mexican food mood try these recipes out on your friends and family.
Insta pot refried beans
Ingredients
1-pound dry pinto beans – 2 cups
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion – chopped into 1/4-inch dice
Original recipe called for Jalapeno, but I used a chipotle pepper. Just one is plenty chopped up
3 cloves garlic – minced (about 1 tablespoon)
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock – divided
3 cups water
2 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
For serving: queso fresco or shredded Monterey jack cheese – diced tomatoes, diced red onion, chopped fresh cilantro, avocado (optional)
Directions: 
 1. Place the pinto beans in a large colander. Thoroughly rinse them. Pick the beans over, removing any damaged or clearly misshapen beans and discarding them. Set the rinsed beans aside.
 2. Turn a 6-quart (or larger) Instant Pot to SAUTE. Add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and Chipotle pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and let cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add a few splashes of chicken stock and scrape along the bottom of the pot to remove any stuck-on bits of food (this will prevent a BURN warning). Add the remaining stock, water, bay leaves, salt, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and the rinsed and drained beans. Lightly stir to combine.
 3. Seal the Instant Pot. Cook on HIGH (manual) for 45 minutes. When the 45 minutes of pressure cooking has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 25 minutes. Vent to release any remaining pressure. Carefully open the lid. The beans will be very liquidy.
 4. Discard the bay leaves. Reserve 2 cups of the bean cooking liquid in a bowl or measuring cup, then drain the remainder. Return the beans to the pot. Mash with an immersion blender (or by hand with a potato masher). 

 

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