Help! Needs recipe!

[martinemonster]

When I visited the US I tasted this really great thing called refried beans (I think, at least when people talked about it, it sounded like that's what they said). Now, Norway is not a great country for Mexican cuisine and I've never been into making my own food (you know, beyond the occasional curry and the really easy stuff like pasta with ready made tomato sauce) so I left the idea of refried beans behind when I came home.

But now, I have a new project. I'm going to try and learn how to make actual good food. I know, it's ambitious and I might fail and go back to my pre-packed stuff, but since I can't eat any of the ready made pizzas and stuff anymore (and I have this boyfriend I'd like to impress with my cooking skills rather than with my supreme lack of skills...) I thought I might actually learn to make some good stuff.

So, can any of you Americans help me? Do you have a recipe for me? (I'm looking at you here cheshire_monkey)

Comments

[sandchigger.livejournal.com]

You really want a recipe for refried beans? Seriously? Ok, here we go:

Open one can of pinto beans, cook as normally (in a pot). Once cooked, put in blender, blend until smooth, reheat as needed.

Seriously, that's all refried beans are.

[martinemonster.livejournal.com]

Really? Wow. Well, that does fit with my usual cuisine...What are pinto beans? Do you think I can get them in Norway?

[sandchigger.livejournal.com]

Pinto beans are um... described much better than I could do here. I have no idea if they're available in Norwegia, though apparently they're available in Spain.

[martinemonster.livejournal.com]

Will look for them. Thanks!

[aj-stalin.livejournal.com]

I'd help you, but I'm not american. You are lucky though. I have plans to start this new blog about cheap food that tastes good and that actually is easy to make. I realised that my cooking skills need to be shared with the people, and especially the poor people of Oslo.

[martinemonster.livejournal.com]

I'm poor. I'm living in Oslo. I qualify. Weee!

[kyokomurasaki.livejournal.com]

I love refried beans (and all Mexican food in general, actually,) but I'm a terrible cook so I can't really help you there. XD

These are pinto beans; I don't know how available they are in Norway but I would think you should be able to find them fairly easily because they're quite cheap. If you have the brand Goya in Norway they definitely have pinto beans, and probably refried beans already cooked in the can.

[martinemonster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I´ll look for it! :D

[cheshire-monkey.livejournal.com]

I can't cook to save my life, but asking my grandmother yielded nothing useful. I did find a recipe that comes close to my grandmothers. However, the main difference is that she throws an onion in with the beans as they cook (rather than in the pan frying them, because - eww). She uses oil (not lard) and has the potato masher on hand to smash the beans while they are being fried. I've never seen her add water, but I suppose it could work.

Have you been able to find pinto beans? Can we send those to Norway?

[martinemonster.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Excellent. I will so try that. Haven't been able to find pinto beans yet, but it might be because they are called something different in Norwegian. If you want to be an angel, you could send me a pack of tofurkey and pinto beans. I'll counter by sending you a packet with Norwegian stuff if you want?