(refried beans)
country of origin: Mexico

4 Cups pinto beans
1 or 2 Tablespoons Baking soda
1 onion
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon garlic powder

Wash beans thoroughly by placing beans in a colander in the sink and running water over it while washing the beans by hand, rinsing through several times, making sure they are completely clean. Soak beans in tall stockpot overnight with baking soda. (It is said that the soda removes some of the gas; not sure if that is true, but I still do it.) Make sure water covers beans allowing them to still be covered with water after doubling in size during soaking process. In the morning, drain into colander and rinse thoroughly. Pour beans into pot. Add chopped onion, salt, garlic, and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until soft, 1 or 2 hours. Or let cook in crock pot all day. Traditionally, beans are mashed and fried in lard, but I don’t fry them. Using a slotted metal spoon, move beans into a pot or another crockpot, a few spoonfulls at a time. Mash with a potato masher, ladle with bean broth to prevent from drying out. Continue this process until all beans are added. Add additional bean broth to get the right consistency. You may not use all the broth, but you can. It has a lot of flavor so you may want to save the broth for re-heating any leftover beans.