Refried Mayocoba Beans Recipe
Prep Time:
40 minutes
Cook Time:
2 hours, 15 minutes
Servings:
8 Servings
Ingredients
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 small red onion, peeled, halved, and very thinly sliced
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 small white onion, halved and papery skin removed
  • 1 navel orange, halved
  • 1 pound dried Mayocoba beans, soaked in water overnight, drained, and rinsed
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 3 dried New Mexico chiles, stems and seeds removed
  • 3 dried chile de árbol peppers, stems and seeds removed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ cup raw pepitas
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • ½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 2 tablespoons white miso
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • ¼ cup crumbled cotija cheese
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
  1. Combine the apple cider vinegar, ½ cup warm water, sugar, and sea salt in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve.
  2. Place the onions and bay leaf in a glass jar to fit.
  3. Pour the brine over the onions.
  4. Cover the jar and let it sit at room temperature while the beans are cooking.
  5. Remove the outer papery layers from the garlic head and cut off the top third horizontally to expose the cloves
  6. In a heavy Dutch oven or other large pot, place the onion halves, trimmed garlic head, and orange halves cut-side-down over high heat.
  7. Dry sear for 5 minutes until deeply caramelized and charred. Remove the oranges and set aside.
  8. Add the soaked beans, broth, apple cider vinegar, dried chiles, and bay leaves to the pot with the charred onion and garlic.
  9. Squeeze in the juice from the oranges and discard the peels.
  10. Bring the beans to a boil over medium-high heat.
  11. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for about 2 hours until the beans are very soft.
  12. While the beans are cooking, combine the pepitas, avocado oil, chile powder, smoked paprika, and cumin in a small skillet over medium-low heat.
  13. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes until the spices are fragrant and the pepitas start to pop.
  14. Spoon the pepitas into a shallow bowl and toss them with the salt. Reserve any residual oil in the pan.
  15. Once the beans are tender, remove the garlic head and chiles and set them aside. Discard the onions and bay leaves.
  16. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the softened garlic cloves into a blender along with 1 cup of the cooking broth and the softened chiles.
  17. Blend until completely smooth and set aside.
  18. Drain the cooked beans, reserving the cooking liquid in another pot or large heat-proof bowl.
  19. Wipe your Dutch oven clean and melt the butter with the oil over medium-low heat.
  20. Continue to cook until the mixture smells nutty and the milk solids start to brown.
  21. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the miso and smoked paprika until smooth.
  22. Add the drained beans and blended garlic-chile mixture to the brown butter miso in the pot.
  23. Mash the beans by hand using a potato masher or the back of a spoon.
  24. Whisk in the lime juice and some of the reserved cooking liquid until the beans are glossy (about ½ cup).
  25. Spread the beans into a wide, shallow serving bowl and top with drained pickled onions, the pepitas and pan oil, cotija cheese, and cilantro to serve.