Friday, January 23, 2009

Refried Beans with Cinnamon and Cloves

This recipe is a fairly new favorite. It's great on those days where I don't want to go to the store, but we have "nothing" to eat. I found the recipe in "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper." A wonderful book and good reading too. It seems funny to have a refried bean recipe, but the ones from the can though good in a pinch, leave much to be desired! And, these beans make the best veggie burritos! We had them last night with spelt tortillas, the beans, cheese, red peppers and spinach. Rollin devoured his, which was actually a surprise to me. I would have predicted this wouldn't be his favorite and I was very wrong. A nice reminder that it's always good to keep trying with kids.
























Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped into 1/4 inch dice
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, fine chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and fine chopped (lazy me, I used green tabasco again)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (or less if you don't like cloves)
One 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes (I always use Muir Glen fire roasted)
Two 15 ounce cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tablespoons butter

Saute the onions with salt and pepper until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeno, cinnamon, and cloves and cook until the mix is fragrant, about a minute. Add the tomatoes, crushing them as they go into the pan. Saute for another minute. Stir in the beans and water. Bring to a simmer, crushing the beans with a potato masher as they cook and scraping the bottom of the pan as the beans begin to thicken. Simmer until beans are fairly thick. Blend in the butter, and taste for seasoning just before serving.

*I always add more spices than called for, but do not overdo the cloves on this recipe. It ruins the beans, just trust me. Also, you can use whole or chopped tomatoes, you just want to mash them really good. The beans don't get totally smooth, but if you want smooth, I'm sure you could whip them in the food processor real quick.

3 comments:

Dee Ann said...

Yum, looks tasty! Nina and rollin look sooo cute and the weather sure looks nice for January in the northwest.

Sand boxes are always a hit. I remember shaking out many a shirt, pants, etc. upon entering the house and making you run for the tub!!! Good baby sitter!!

the Geoff Davis said...

These beans sound so yummy! There are some foods I really miss here, like Mexican! That and...your food!

Amber Marie said...

I think I have all those ingredients right now...done, that's dinner tonight. Thanks :)