Frijoles de la Olla by Cool Chile
Mexican black beans, known as ‘frijoles de la olla’ are common to central and south México, cook these beans
with onion to make this dish, then add smoked paprika to any leftovers to make into refry.
Makes about 1.5kg beans and liquid (serves 6-8).
4g dried Epazote
1 small to medium sized onion
1-1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
To cook the beans, rinse them under cold running water, removing any stones that you may find. In a large sauce pan with a lid, soak the beans in 1.75 litres of water for 2-4 hours until the middle of a bean is soft (not chalky) or quick soak
by bringing to a boil for a couple of minutes then let sit for an hour. Do not drain the soaked black beans as you will loose some of the beautiful black colour.
Put the soaking beans in the pan with the water (which is now black) on a medium to high heat, add the epazote, árbol chillies and the onion which has been peeled and diced. Bring to a boil, cover and turn down to a simmer.Cook gently, adding water as necessary until the beans are soft (approx. 2 hours). There should be lots of liquid around the beans
and they should be free floating at all times. Add the salt at the end of the cooking time, when the beans are soft.
Recommendation:
Using a pressure cooker for beans gives great results, there is no need to soak, the beans cook evenly and less energy is used, follow the recipe above by putting the rinsed by unsoaked beans in the pressure cooker with the rest of the ingredients, using only 1.5 litres water, let the pressure cooker come up to full stem, then reduce to low steam and cook for 45 mins.
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Frijoles de la Olla (Black bean) Refry by Cool Chile
Makes about 500g (serves approx. 4).
2 cups of black beans including liquid from above recipe
(or two tins or cartons of cooked black beans in salted water)
1 small to medium sized onion
60ml vegetable oil, vegetable fat or home rendered lard
¼ - ½ tsp salt (or to taste)
Follow the black bean recipe as above. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, peel and dice the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in 1 tsp. of smoked paprika and 2 cups of the beans with liquid, be careful as the beans will spit whilst cooking. Mash together with a potato masher, which will give you a rustic texture or for a smooth texture use a food processor. Cook until thick and glossy, stirring frequently as the mixture will stick and burn in the bottom of the pan if not watched. Turn out onto a plate, sprinkle over some crumbly cheese, (ricotta salata if you can get hold of it) salsa and serve on tacos or as a warm dip with corn chips.
Reheating:
Beans will keep in the fridge covered for about 3 days. They also freeze well. Always reheat beans thoroughly,
stirring to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom of your pan.