Eating My Way Through the Alphabet: Letter R

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Something to Savor: Refried Beans Restaurant-Style! Copycat recipes are so much fun to share with the family, especially when tweaked to express your own personal taste. If you’ve been to more than one Mexican restaurant, which most of us have, you’ve probably noticed an order of refried beans can be extra-creamy, smooth or chunky, blah or spicy. No worries. If you like the earthy taste, substitute black beans for the pinto beans. The same goes for a slightly smoky taste. That effect comes from bacon drippings instead of olive oil. For authentic results you may even choose to begin from scratch. I was pretty pleased with the results featured here. 
REFRIED BEANS RESTAURANT-STYLE
Ingredients:

16-ounce can refried beans, traditional 

16-ounce can pinto beans, drained 

1 tablespoon bacon drippings 

1 small onion, chopped 

1/8 teaspoon cumin powder 

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded 

2-3 jalapeño peppers, pickled and sliced
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a skillet over medium heat, add bacon drippings. Sauté chopped onions until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Stir in cumin powder, garlic powder, and sea salt. Add refried beans. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Fold in pinto beans. Reduce heat. Warm until bubbly, stirring occasionally. Spoon mixture into individual ovenproof bowls. Place bowls. on a baking sheet. Top each with Monterey Jack cheese. Bake 5-8 minutes until cheese is melted and beans are bubbly. Carefully remove baking sheet from oven. Garnish with jalapeño slices. 

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