I promise!
So far, our culinary adventures have consisted mostly of fresh fruits and vegetables, vitamin C packed dried fruits, nuts, quinoa (gluten free, and yummy) pasta, the freshest fish and the occasional chicken and red meat.
Today, however, we threw caution to wind...and it was amazing!
A few weeks ago I walked with some friends to the home of a lovely Mexican woman who teaches Spanish, and in between classes she opens her doors for a Spanish Club, where participants are permitted to speak only in Spanish. This particular week was a cooking lesson, for a fish in the "Vera Cruz" style of the Yucatan Penninsula.
After a few hours of meal preparation, conversation and laughter, as we were ready to eat, she pulled some refried beans out of the refrigerator as an accompaniment to the main course. Curious me(!), I said I had always been fascinated as to how make refried beans, and she told me the secret (shhhhh!) is to make a flour rue.
I had tucked the rue "secret" away in the back of my mind until yesterday when Bill and I set out to find a recipe on the internet, but to no avail. Apparently, flour rue is the ingredient used by professional chefs who do not normally publish their secrets. Digging deeper, however, Bill uncovered two options and we were off to the races!
First we boiled the dried pinto beans that had been soaking overnight. That took nearly two hours until they were just right. Then we fried up some bacon (the second secret ingredient), and poured off the fat. Then back to the beans, which were drained and put into a frying pan (with a rue of bacon fat and flour already prepared), mashed up and spiced with salt, chili powder and a dash of tabasco.
Finally, I cooked up a few farm fresh eggs and voila(!), an incredible brunch! Bill chose to eat his rolled up in fresh, locally made tortillas while I opted for a simple plate.
Not particularly healthy, nor (it seems) politically correct, but hey....it tasted soooooo good!
Here are some pics of our work in progress :0)
