The Best Rancho Beans

Wash the beans in a sieve and sort through for pebbles. Put beans in a pot and cover with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let soak 1 to 4 hours. Drain beans and cover with 6 cups fresh water. Add onion, garlic, and chili powder. (If you have a ham bone, you can add that, too. Just be careful about adding additional salt later.) Simmer the beans about 3 hours, or until tender. Add salt and pepper towards the end of the cooking time. Heat the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron (or other heavy metal) skillet; add 1 cup of cooked beans and less than ½-cup bean cooking liquid. Simmer and begin mashing with a large metal spoon. When the mixture looks very thick, add another cup of beans and some bean liquid. Continue until you have used all of the beans and about half of the bean liquid. Simmer about 20 minutes. Reserve some of the remaining bean liquid, you may want to add more later. The beans should be thick but not dry like refried beans. The will thicken upon standing and after being refrigerated.