Growing up, my mother made tostadas or tacos for us at least once a month, the main difference being that tostadas are flat, crispy, and layered with beans, and tacos are folded and usually without beans. This food is kid heaven — messy, choose your own topping, and incredibly tasty. This month we found a recipe in Fine Cooking for Smoky Refried Bean Tostadas. This recipe called for a slightly different approach to the beans — they suggested adding cumin and Chipotle Tabasco sauce. The chipotle added such a terrific smoky chili flavor to the beans, no salsa was needed on the tostadas. I think they are the best refried beans we’ve ever had! We make our beans from scratch on the stovetop or in the pressure cooker, so I don’t know how it would taste with canned beans, but the smoky flavor of the chipotle is wonderful. Use a potato masher to mash the beans into the pan, until the consistency of (somewhat lumpy) mashed potatoes. Cook for a few minutes on medium hight heat until water is absorbed. Stir in the Chipotle Tabasco sauce and season to taste with more salt if needed. Remove to a warm burner out of the way, cover. Using tongs, place a tortilla in the hot oil and let cook until golden brown on both sides, about 30 seconds per side. You can use a metal spatula to flatten down the tortilla while cooking. Use tongs to lift the cooked tortilla out of the pan, allowing the excess oil to drip off of it, back into the pan. Place the cooked tortilla on the paper towels to absorb more of the oil. Sprinkle a little salt onto each warm tortilla. Do each tortilla one at a time this way. As you fill up a baking pan, put the pan in the oven to keep the tortillas warm. Add more oil as needed. Carefully monitor the oil temperature. Don’t let it get too hot, or the tortillas will burn, or too cool - they won’t fry up crisp enough. Let people spread beans on to their tortillas and add sprinkle on the cheese, cilantro and tomatoes for each tostada. Optional additions are sliced lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa (though with the chipotle, you probably don’t need any more heat).
