Jalapeno lime refried black beans with mozzarella, onion, cilantro, avocado crema, and hot sauce

This is the hot sauce. And, yes, that’s Dexter Holland from The Offspring on the label.

  • ladytaters@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    4 days ago

    Ooh, I love the original Gringo Bandito green sauce - have not yet tried the yellow. This looks absolutely delicious!

  • JohnnyEnzyme@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    I love that move, holding off on cooking the culantro until the last bit of time, or even having it fresh, a bit like parsley. It’s just too easy to lose the flavor when cooked too early!

    That said, I try to use every bit of the bunch, so will often mini-slice the stems and put them in near the end.

    • Transient Punk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      Yeah, you’re right. Cilantro is very volatile when cooked. I usually always just add it as a fresh topping, it has so much more flavor that way. Also, if you make a crema with cilantro, the fat seems to capture all the aromatic compounds and keep them nice and vibrant for a good amount of time

      • JohnnyEnzyme@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        5 days ago

        Wow… nice!
        Indeed, that reminds me of what I’ve learned of Indian cooking, a little bit. For example, I understand that sauteing seeds like cumin and coriander (getting back to cilantro, hah) in “ghee” (clarified butter) is a great / classic way to get the essential flavors of the seeds / ingredients in to the oil component, which can later be transferred towards something else that’s freshly cooked, like dal (lentils) or pollo.

        • Transient Punk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
          2·
          5 days ago

          Yeah, blooming spices is a really great technique. It definitely adds a new level of complexity, and a great way to arrest the volatility of those amazing aroma compounds

    • Transient Punk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      3·
      5 days ago

      I mostly just cook from the heart, but here’s what I did:

      For the beans:

      1 no. 3 can of whole black beans

      1/2 of a white onion medium dice

      2 jalapenos medium dice

      Zest and juice of one lime

      1 tbsp of whole cumin seeds

      1 large pinch of kosher salt

      I sauted the onion with a little salt until they were soft with brown edges, then I added the jalapenos and the beans (water and all), cumin, and the remainder of the salt. I let that simmer for for a while until the liquid reduced, then I added the lime zest and juice, and used a potato masher to crush up about 50% of the beans to give a bit of textural difference.

      For the avocado crema:

      1 whole avocado

      1/2 cup sour cream

      1 medium pinch kosher salt

      Zest and juice of one lime

      2-3 tbsp water

      This one’s easy, add all ingredients except water to a food processor and blend until evenly mixed, then add water until you’ve reached the consistency you want. That’s it.

      For assembly, I put a small amount of mozzarella on the tostada and microwaved it for a few seconds to get it melty, then added beans, followed by onions and then cilantro, top with crema and add the hot sauce of your choice.