Anonymous Tue May 23 19:40:11 2006

See Instructions

To me, one of the biggest problems people have with making refried beans is getting the

water level right, after they are cooked and ready to be mashed. If you leave too much water

in the beans, and mash them, they will be runny, and you got a problem. If you take out too

much of the water, they will be too dry, and it can be a hassle to add it back into the already

mashed beans. After the beans are cooked (please cook with some hickory smoked

bacon, and what ever else you want in them), ladle out the water level until it is about 1/8 to

1/4 inch above the beans...just a thin layer of water left on top of the beans. Save ladled out

juice just in case the beans are too dry. Mash beans while still hot. Place beans in a

casserole dish, sprinkle diced onion on top of them, and bake, uncovered, in oven at 350F

for about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkled long horn grated cheese on

top of the beans, and put back in oven until cheese melts. The other way we like to do ours

is this. After mashing beans, let cool so they become more firm. Take a spatula and

remove a portion of mashed beans from container, place in a medium hot Teflon coated

skillet (they can tend to stick in a non coated skillet), and brown beans on bottom side. Flip

beans over and brown top side. While browning top side, add diced onions and grated

cheese to browned side and let cheese melt.