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Can you smell that? Mmmmm….fried scones……doesn’t get much better then that folks! Growing up there weren’t many things that made me happier then the very rare occasion my mom made Navajo tacos for dinner. Not only did we get to have Navajo tacos for dinner, but that also meant we got scones with butter and honey for dessert. Yep, they were and still are one of my most favoritest foods. (And yes, I know favoritest is not a real word, but I’m using it anyway.)
I probably make these too often now that I run my own kitchen. I can’t help it. They’re are just too delicious and my kids love them. Basically it’s a win win situation. It would actually make my life harder not to make them. Okay, I know your thinking, “Maria, those are deep fried, and I am on a diet, and not only are they deep fried, but they are ‘bread’…..and you want me to put what on it?”. Relax people, I’m not telling you to eat it every night, I just think you deserve a little splurge once in a while. Plus, reading blogs totally burns lots of calories. So go ahead make these for dinner tonight, you’ll be glad you did.
The dough recipe is over on my other blog. As for the chili topping, you can make your own, or just buy your favorite canned chili. Homemade refried beans make a tasty alternative to chili if you are a vegetarian. We aren’t vegitarian at our house but sometime we use the homemade refried beans and they are delicious. There are lots of options. I’ll give you my chili recipe and my homemade refried beans recipe and you can decide what makes you the happiest.
Maria’s Chili
1 large onion, chopped
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped (keep some seeds if you like spice)
1/2 cup chopped red or green pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots peeled and chopped very tiny (I use my food chopper, a food processor would work great too.)
1 quart crushed or diced tomatoes (two 15 oz cans)
1 lb hamburger
1 lb pinto beans
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbsp sugar or honey
1 tsp lemon juice
Rinse beans and soak over night. If you forget to soak over night, cover the beans with water and bring to a boil for one minute. Cover and turn off heat. Let beans sit for one hour.
Brown hamburger and add onion, peppers, garlic and carrots, continue cooking 2-3 minutes until veggies are tender. Add chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and salt. Mix well and then add tomatoes (do not drain). Add beans and and enough water to cover bean mixture by one inch. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer until beans are tender. 2-4 hours. When beans are tender use potato smasher and smash chili until it thickens. (Smashing the chili breaks apart some of the beans and causes the chili to thicken.) Stir in sugar and lemon juice.
Homemade Refried Beans
This recipe makes a lot. We like to put it in freezer bags and keep it on hand in the freezer. You could half the recipe if you don’t want to make that many. They will stay good in the fridge for about a week.
I learned how to make these from a friend whose husband is from Argentina, so these are like the real thing…..minus the lard. 
2- 1 lb. packages of dried pinto beans rinsed 2 or 3 times (We buy are pinto beans in 25 lb bags so I just use five or six cups of dried beans)
1 large onion quartered or 1/3 cup of dehydrated onion
1 whole bulb of garlic peeled and sliced or 3-4 tsp dehydrated garlic
2-3 tsp salt (I usually shake my big salt thing over it a couple times and then taste the water to see if it taste salty enough. Start with 2 tsp and then taste the water. You can also taste a bean part way through the cooking process to see if you need to add more salt.
1/2- 1 cup oil (vegetable or canola) In a 4 quart sauce pan or larger (make sure your pan has a pretty thick bottom) rinse and drain the beans and then cover with water until the water is 1 inch above the beans. Add onion, garlic and salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir and then reduce heat to simmering. Check every 20-30 minutes. Add more water when necessary(try and keep the water level at least 1/2 inch above the beans) and stir occasionally. The beans will need to simmer anywhere from three to four hours…probably four. The beans should be really soft. Strain beans out of the water with a slotted spoon. Keep the bean water. Add a cup or so of the bean water and 1/2 cup of oil. Using an emulsion blender or a potato smasher or even your normal blender. If you use your normal blender you will probably have to do it in a couple batches and make sure you have it pretty thin. A potato smasher works fine too, it just takes a little more elbow grease. Start blending the beans and adding in the bean water when necessary until they are the consistency that you prefer. You may run out of bean water and need to add regular water. That is fine. You may also need to add a little more then the 1/2 cup of oil but never add more than one cup.
Which ever one you choose, don’t forget to layer it with your favorite taco toppings. We like: Cheese, tomato, lettuce, onions, olives, sour cream and salsa. Oh, and I just had to share this recipe I found over at Chocolate on my Cranium, I’m definitely giving these little babies a try this week.
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