Directions

• STEP ONE

  Put beans and water into Dutch oven. Soak at least six hours. Pour beans into colander and rinse thoroughly. Add two cups water back into the Dutch oven, along with bacon grease, garlic powder, bouillon and chili powder. Bring to a boil.

• STEP TWO

  Cover and reduce heat, simmering for about four to six hours. Stir occasionally. You’ll know when the fri- joles are done because they’ll be very tender. If there seems to be too much liquid in the beans, leave the lid off for the last half hour. Stir or mash beans often when lid is off until approximately half of them are mashed and half are still whole.

• STEP THREE

  To prepare Ranchero Style: Leave out the bacon grease. Cook only until beans are barely tender and the mixture has the consistency of bean soup — about two to three hours. You can make part of your batch into refried beans and part into Ranchero style beans. It’s up to you!