Showing posts with label Beans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beans. Show all posts

Friday, August 31, 2012

Crockpot Refried Beans



Dried beans come in a  variety of sizes, colors and the flavors are countless.

The dishes that can be created by adding beans are also numerous, they can include soups, salads, side dishes, salsa's, puree's, etc...

Sometimes I just don't have time to rehydrate them though.  I buy the packages and when I want to use them I have not given myself enough time to prepare the red bean, black bean or pinto bean.

White lima beans, kidney beans and navy bean sit at the bottom of my pantry anxiously awaiting the day that I remember to soak them overnight or boil them in hot water for a few hours.

Like many, if I need some beans right now, I run to the store and buy them in a can.

We love refried beans and I will often serve them as a side dish when we have enchilada's, on our nacho's or in the bottom of a corn tortilla before we add the cheese, lettuce and ripe tomatoes.


Refried Beans is a simple dish.

I also learned it is an easy dish.

I found inspiration to try this recipe when I woke up one morning and my beans fell out onto the kitchen floor.  I felt that they had flung themselves at me.  THUD, landing at my feet.

My crockpot was sitting on the counter, and together, the beans and the crockpot, were telling me I needed to give my crazy thought a try.

In the end, I was so excited that I did because this dish came together nicely.  I made it in the early morning and it was done by dinner time.

When you make your own refried beans you have so much control in how the flavors will be paired and the end result.

I will be making these from scratch for now on because I learned several things.

Great flavor.

Easy preparating.

GOOD!

Yep, they were simply good.

Good taste, texture and flavor.


Recipe:  Crockpot Refried Beans

6 cups of water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
3 cups of dried pinto beans
1 tablespoon of granulated garlic
2 teaspoons of onion powder

2 teaspoons of cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup of jalapeno (optional)
Cheese (optional)

Add all of the above ingredients to a crockpot.

Set temperature to high and cook for 4-5 hours.  If you choose to cook it on low the time will be much longer, 8-10 hours.

I checked the beans after 3 hours to make sure they were doing okay and every hour after that.

You will have to remove some water when the beans return to their desired doneness.  I removed almost one full cup.

I used a potato masher to mash the refried beans together.  They will get thicker as they sit for a few minutes or even the next day.

I liked having a variety of beans in the dish that ranged from whole to mash.











Friday, May 4, 2012

146. Taco Pizza



The year must have been 1983 when I first had taco pizza.  I lived in a small town as a teenager named Molalla.  We were known as the Molalla Indians at my high school.  It was a logging town.

Early in the morning you could hear the rumble of the large log trucks, see the steam from the mills and smell the scent of fresh cut pine in the air.

Those were the days.

I would visit my aunt in the summers before we moved there ourselves.  I would spend numerous days riding my bike on the logging roads.  Yep, they had their own roads.  The trucks did a lot of damage to the highway roads plus it kept them from driving through town.  We had one blinking light.


There wasn't a  McDonalds, grocery store chains or new subdivisions.  Our population was about 2500.  It was great.

Our place to hang out was one of the largest gathering places in town, besides the local churches. Michaello's was the place to be after football games, after dates to enjoy the ice cream bar or to just hang out with your friends.  Their pizza's were nothing fancy but you could get a huge one for a good price.  They sold pop by the pitcher and for a teenager in the 80's that was a good thing.

Of course this has all changed. The population is around 7500, Safeway and McDonalds are both in town, they have a real stop light and the property is being sold to create more housing.

Through the years I have taco pizza in other towns and I enjoyed it just as much as that first time.  My family doesn't just love it but this week they were good sports and let me make it for them.  For a family that was on the fence about having it for dinner, they sure do know how to put it away…LOL

I made one and we had a few slices left over.

I made the crust a little bit different this time.  I used some masa harina in the dough.  I was a bit leary of trying something new.  It worked and the corn flavored flour added a lot of flavor to our taco pizza.

The recipe makes enough for two crust.  I used one and put the other in the fridge.  The next day I took it out, wrapped it around a few hotdogs, let it rise and baked for a few minutes at 425.

The dough has a cool feel to it.  It's doughy like pizza dough and can be rolled very easily but it also has the feel of homemade corn tortilla dough.  It breaks off easily and kind of grainy looking.  It reminded me of homemade playdough.

As with most pizza, you can use all types of toppings to make it your own.  I will share with you what I did.  It reminds me of a 7 layer taco dip but on a crust and with mozzarella cheese.

ENJOY!


Recipe:  Pizza Taco

Dough, makes enough for two thin crust

1 tsp sugar
1 pkg. of yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of masa harina
1 tsp. cumin

Proof your yeast by adding the yeast and sugar to your warm water.  Wait about 5 minutes for the foam to appear on the top of your water.  If this does not happen, your yeast may not be good or your water is too hot.  Start over.

In your kitchenaid with the dough hook, add the flours, salt, cumin, and proofed yeast.   Have a small amount of flour near by in case you need to add a bit more to the dough.

Set your kitchenaid to a medium speed and knead your dough for 8 minutes.  You want the dough to look like bread dough.  If it is not pulling together into a ball add a bit more flour or water until this is reached.  You will need the dough to be worked for the full 8 minutes.

In an oiled glass bowl, add your dough and let double.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Mine took an hour and a half.

Preheat your oven to 425.  If using a stone, let the stone heat up with your oven.

Roll your dough out on a floured surface until your desired size it reached.

Bake the dough for about 10 minutes.

Remove and add your toppings.


TOPPINGS:

1 can of refried beans
1 can of black beans
1 jar of taco sauce (this is not salsa, it's similar to the sauce you might get at Taco Bell in the packets)
3 cups of mozzarella cheese, crated
1 small onion
1 small can of diced olives
lettuce, shredded
tomatoes, diced
jalapeno's, diced on the side
sour cream (optional)
corn chips, broken (optional)

Start layering your baked crust with your toppings.  I will show you with pictures the layers that I did.  You will need to bake your pizza again after you add the cheese layer.  Read below.


Heat your refried beans up first.  This makes it a lot easier to spread them onto your pizza.
I put the refried beans first so that the sauce would not all be soaked up by the crust.  This is one of my favorite parts of the pizza.

You don't have to add black beans but I already had an open can so I used them.

You can use a different type of cheese, but beware that cheddar is very greasy.  Mozzarella is a nice cheese to use even with a taco pizza.
At this point you want to bake your pizza for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and add your fresh ingredients.
Red onions and olives.

lettuce

fresh tomatoes

I served the other ingredients on the side.


  

Donut Breakfast Casserole

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.  Share  this pos...

Popular Posts