Refried Beans

I am not Mexican and have never been in Mexico. The only reasons I would be vaguely interested in Mexican cooking in the first place are twofold: first, my interest in tequila, and second, my memories of going to a Mexican restaurant which shares my name in my family's tiny Dutch home town. Both tequila and the restaurant's dishes were delicious enough to convince me to by a book on Mexican cooking a few weeks ago (Thomasina Miers' Mexican Food Made Simple, which you can buy here). So far I've tried my hand at two dishes: refried beans and quesadilas filled with said refried beans and cheese. Both were delicious! I'll give you the recipe for refried beans here. They were amazingly simple.

Ingredients
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chili
4 dried bay leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander roots
(A tin of) 400 grams black beans, including their juice
50 grams butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Smash the beans in their juice with a fork until you get a paste-like structure (or use a food processor if you don't mind the extra washing up). Chop the onion and garlic finely, slice the chili thinly. Melt the butter over a high heat until it starts to bubble up. Add the onion and bay leaves and sweat until the onions are soft (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic, coriander roots and chili. Turn the heat low. Add the smashed beans, continually stirring. Season well. Let this simmer until the bean mixture has less moisture in it (the book recommends waiting until it easily falls of the back of a wooden spoon).

You can serve the beans as a dip with tortilla chips and some creme fraiche. And tequila!