Hey Burrito!

Have I  ever mentioned how much I love Mexican food?  Actually what I love is Tex-Mex.  It has always been my favorite.  Unfortunately I didn't live where I could have Tex-Mex food very often. 

My earliest memories of eating in a Mexican restaurant was going to El Fenix in Oklahoma City.   I probably didn't get to eat there but once every few months and so it was something special.  The funny thing is.. I don't even have to have GREAT Mexican food.  I'd settle for mediocre Mexican food.  

When we first moved to Arkansas when I was in high school my need to eat Mexican food was clearly not being satisfied.  There were hardly any places (that I knew of at the time)  that we could go, even in the nearest big town.  Then one of my brothers came to visit and brought a girlfriend with him.  And to my delight she was from Mexico.  I held her hostage in the kitchen her entire visit and made her teach me how to cook.  I knew, even in high school, that it was going to be up to me to make the kind of foods I liked.  The first thing she taught me how to make was refried beans and then homemade flour tortillas.  

I was looking forward to many more visit with her but unfortunately the relationship with my brother didn't last.  Bummer.  

It is basic food.  Not fancy.  I still make beans from scratch all the time.  I probably make it at least once a month.  And I usually make enough pinto beans so that we have left overs.  But instead of tossing out your left overs you can use them to make a nifty side dish for your enchiladas.  And when you have homemade refried beans as a side dish people think you've done something totally amazing.   Tonight I made refried beans and used them to make burritos.  To re-fry beans you don't necessarily have to "fry" them.  You can just boil them down and mash them with your potato masher and keep cooking them until most of the liquid is gone and you have thickened beans.  

Pardon the ugly pot but I'm just keepin' it real.

See where the liquid level "was"  It's at the bottom of the wooden spatula.  I just kept the heat on and boiled them down.  

See how it's thickening?

Because I do actually like to refry the beans I decided to go ahead and do that.  If you use a little bit of bacon drippings it adds a really nice flavor.  

So I get my trusty cast iron skillet out and add a little bit of bacon drippings and a little bit of canola oil.

heat it up and then add the beans!

It's already bubbling up nicely!

 we added some ground beef with taco seasoning

And voila!

Simple and satisfying.

I normally would microwave this for a about 30 seconds to make sure the cheese is melted but I'm still living like the Amish and so I put the plates in the oven to warm.  

My guacamole maker! Isn't she cute?  She did a great job.

Perfect meal for this chilly evening.