Yay!

We had a mini supra yesterday, and I feel a sense of accomplishment. I managed to create refried beans that actually A) tasted good and B) were done from scratch. I'm quite proud of my beans. They took about 3 1/2 hours to cook, which is okay because I have a lot of free time here...

Here's the recipe, for those of you in Georgia who actually would want to make this. All measures are approximate...

Half kilo of red beans (maybe more, who knows how much it actually was...)
1 spicy pepper
1 heaping tablespoon cumin
1 heaping tablespoon red powder from spice market - this one is sweetish
1 heaping tablespoon other red powder from spice market - this one is spicyish
1 heaping teaspoon of red pepper flakes
2 heaping tablespoons of salt
4 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 piece of pork fat (ghoris qoni).

1) Soak the beans overnight. They will swell substantially.
2) Once the beans have soaked, boil with the hot pepper for about 2 hours. Low boil - don't go nuts. The pepper should be cored, but not cut (ie, remove the seeds and stem, but don't cut it up). Do not add any of the other spices yet, or the salt.
3) Core the pork fat - should be a relatively small piece. Cut the outer portion off, and slice into small chunks (about 1x1x1cm). In a separate pot, heat to a high heat and render it down to liquid. Takes about 10 minutes. Strain out most of the chunks, if anything is left.
4) Crush garlic and add chopped onion to the hot oil. Let it simmer/stir fry for a few minutes.
5) Add a ladleful of beans at a time to the oil mixture.
6) Add spices.
7) Wait, and let it cook until it has the right consistency.

The beans will be spicy - fyi. I don't think out host fam will be eating anything else I make, on the assumption that it will probably hurt them. Sorry Inga...

our friend josh made an awesome salsa, we toasted up lavash for chips, and it was just like home...