Tortilla, Lager, and Black Bean Pie

We are celebrating one year of recipes... already!

It has been a fun year of trying to log some of the recipes we hope to remember. And sharing part of our family food history through those recipes. It's pretty amazing how a blog can motivate us to keep cooking so we have something to post on here! This coming year we hope to share more recipes from all of the great cooks in our family. *wink wink*

To commemorate this anniversary of sorts I figured we could use a bean recipe to celebrate. Since we all eat a lot of them. I am sure between us and our cousins we have eaten a virtual ton of our Grandpa's crazy-delicious refried beans. Beans are cheap, healthy, and let's face it—entertaining.

Growing up, Mama Rae also made those refried beans by the bucketful and would slather the tasty buggers between slices of thick wheat bread, topped with bean sprouts. As you can imagine, we got some bug eyed reactions from classmates in the lunchroom when we pulled one of those puppies out. Actually, friends were intrigued and I think I got more sandwich trades out of those than any others. I didn't know how good we had it.

I found this layered tortilla pie recipe several years ago in an edition of 'Everyday Food' by Martha herself. It's the type of recipe you have to hold on to for when you get a hankering for it. Thankfully, I was able to dig it up a few weeks back when we wanted it again, in all its cheesy glory.

It works well in a spring form pan, but I'm sure any pan would work; it just may not look so pretty. One nice feature of this recipe is that you can assemble it ahead of time and then bake it just before serving.

4 flour tortillas (10 inch)
1 T oil
1 large onion diced
1 jalapeno chile, minced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 t cumin
course salt and pepper
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
12 ounces lager beer or 1.5 cups water
1 package frozen corn or 1o ounces fresh
4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
2.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream and salsa on the side if desired

Preheat oven to 400. Trim tortillas to fit a 9 inch springform pan, using the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat, add onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5-7 min.

Add beans and beer to skillet, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, simmer until liquid has almost evaporated. This may take up to 15 min. Stir in corn and scallions, remove from heat. Add more salt and pepper.

Fit a trimmed tortilla in bottom of springform pan, layer with 1/4 beans and 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat 3 times, using 1 cup cheese on top layer. Bake until hot and cheese is melted, 20-25 min. Unmold pie and sprinkle with scallions. Slice into wedges.


Mangia~

Tracey