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Refried Pinto Beans

2 cups pinto beans

2/3 to 3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 bulb of roasted garlic, approximately 6 or 7 cloves

2 - 3 tsp seasalt, depending on how much salt you like

1 large bay leaf

1 finely chopped tomato, vine ripened or home grown

4 quart pot

Directions:

First pour your beans out on a table or cutting board. Sort
through them and discard any rocks or shriveled beans.

This shouldn't take but a couple of minutes to do.

Put the beans in a colander and rinse them under cold water.
Pour the beans into a pot.

Add 8 cups of cold water and the bay leaf.

Put the stove burner on high and cover partially
with a lid.

As soon as the beans start to boil, lower the heat a little but
still continue to boil. Cook for 2 hours and keep adding water
as it cooks away.

Stir occasionally. Keep the water level at 2 inches above the
beans.

Keep some water heated on the stove in a kettle or pan. Then
when you need to add water to your beans, you have hot water
available. Adding cold water will slow down the cooking process
while you wait for the beans to boil again.

After two hours of cooking, the beans should be soft and darker
brown in color. If not cook them another 20 to 30 minutes. Then
add the oil, salt, tomatoe, and roasted garlic.

You can slide the roasted garlic out of it's sleeve in the bulb,
right into the beans.

Important:

Do not add salt before the two hours of cooking or your beans
will never soften up.

After adding the salt etc. bring the beans to a boil again and
lower the heat to low. You want to cook them on a slow boil for
an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours. You will need to stir them
occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the
pot.

A Little Secret To Great Flavor

To get the best flavor, simmer your beans 1- 1 1/2 hour or as
long as you can with all the spices and oil. The longer these
pinto bean recipes simmer, the better they will taste.

After 1 to 1 1/2 hours, it seems like all the beans want to do
is stick to the pot. This is the point where you turn off the
heat, remove the bay leaf, and mash them with a potato masher.

You have just completed one of the best pinto bean recipes
around. Enjoy.

If you feel like you need more than 3 cups of refried beans,
make 4 or 5. Just add a little more salt, tomatoe, roasted
garlic and oil. I always taste as I go and so should you, that
way you can make adjustments to your liking.

If you decide to make a larger quantity of beans, just remember
that the beans will expand in volume. Your pot needs to be big
enough to accommodate this as well as the other ingredients and
still have room to mash the beans without making a mess.

Here is a rule of thumb. Never fill your pot more than 1/3 full
of beans (before cooking). Also make sure you keep the level of
water at 2 to 3 inches above the beans.