I made tacos for dinner and was struck by the minimalist qualities of this delicious food. I took tortillas that are just ordinary, off-the-shelf, stacked in piles of 36 and resilient in the refrigerator. They come to life when they are fried in a pan with 1/8" of vegetable oil in the bottom, becoming both chewy and slightly crunchy, and very rich in an earthy way. I always make my lo-fat simple version of refried beans when I make tacos. They have a complimentary earthy flavor that sets off whatever filling I make, and along with a salsa cruda, form the triumvirate of the essential taco. The additional fillings are endlessly diverse, and individually delicious.
Refried Beans
2 c. dried pinto beans
8 c. stock
2 bay leaves
1 onion, cut in half
Put in the crock pot on high for 6 or more hours, drain off most off the water, food process with the chopping blade until smooth.
Rick Bayless wrote the very best cookbook of regional Mexican cooking. I recommend cooking slowly and careful through all his very first cookbook, Authentic Mexican, which is my favorite. I think his second cookbook, Rick Bayless' Mexican Cooking, is a better cookbook, but it is flashier and therefore less faithful to the tradition it comes from, and I don't like it nearly as much. His recipes are an easy introduction to Mexican cooking that will serve those who try him well.
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