Remember those beans I mentioned … the ones I accidentally slow-cooked for 12 hours on Sunday … Well, yesterday morning before work I turned them into duck fat refried beans and rice.
Oh-em-effing-gee they are amazing. Sooooo not diet food and very spicy, but bloody beautiful.
The dish was sparked by the impulse purchase of a jar of duck fat many months ago. I was doing my grocery shop when I spotted the jar and thought Oooooh, duck fat roast potatoes are supposed to be YUMMY, I must buy some!
And then the jar sat in my cupboard for months, until I saw a recipe in my Facebook feed from Food Republic.
So I decided to give it a go for my weekly single-mum-solo dish. I had them for lunch yesterday and a few people in the office came sniffing to the kitchen wondering what the delicious smell was.
As I left work last night, I worried that duck fat refried beans weren’t the most sensible thing to eat for lunch AND dinner … fortunately my friend Suse – who lives around the corner – invited me over for a spontaneous lamb roast with bonus red wine.
Being served a spontaneous lamb roast on a Monday night is pretty bloody lovely.
Bless you, Suse.
I was very smiley when I headed home.
But back to the beans. I’ve tweaked the recipe so they’re more like red beans and rice, and it’s a little scary pouring that much fat into a frying pan, but the results are nom nom. I might even talk the plain eating DD into tasting them.
Recipe: Duck fat refried beans
- 375g dried kidney beans
- 500ml chicken stock
- 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 dried chipotle chilli (I got mine from Herbies, a range usually available at specialty food store)
- 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed slightly
- 3 sprigs of oregano
Frying
- 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled
- 3 green chillies, deseeded
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
- 200g duck fat
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 bottle Corona beer
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese (you can get Mexican blends at Woolies these days, not perfect but they’ll do)
METHOD: Soak beans overnight. Drain and add to slow cooker with stock, onion, chipotle chilli, garlic and oregano. Cook on low FOREVER. I found eight hours wasn’t enough. Ten to 12 hours seemed fine. Then blend together the onion, garlic, chilli, oregano, cumin and salt to form a paste. Heat duck fat in frying pan. Fry mixture for five minutes in the fat. Add the beans, fry for a few minutes, add the beer, simmer for 10 minutes minutes. Put the mix into a baking dish, sprinkle with cheese and place under a grill until the cheese melts. Serve with rice … or corn chips as a dip … or as a side dish.
Song of the day: Pink “Oh my god” (aka my kinda porn)
housegoeshome 
Yum this sounds divine! You are so clever! Now I feel like refried beans for breakfast lol
They are nom nom
If I eat even ONE re-fried bean I end up with the most savage wind pains you can imagine. I avoid them at all cost. Well, no cost really. I can not imagine anything cooked in duck fat either. Lol. I can’t believe they sell duck fat in jars. I weep for all the corpulent ducks of the world. #boringvegetariantype
I was a little surprised that duck fat in jars got shelf space in Woolies. I had the beans again today for lunch … mmmmmmm