Lenten dinner

As  you know, we aren't exactly religious in our household.  (The cat enforced worship of the cats doesn't really make a religion.)  But, we do like to give passing nods to religious rituals. . . specifically foods.  So, I like to come up with interesting foods for meatless Fridays of lent.  (We use to host a lenten poker game. . . for easter candy.)

Tonight, I made something that would make a fine meatless meal.

I toasted (in a dry, cast iron pan) two, dried ancho peppers I'd split, (pulled the stem off, and shaken the seeds out of until) they looked blistered.  Then, they were submerged in hot water for 15 minutes.  After removing them from the hot water, I chopped them and threw them in the blender.  Also, in the blender went a ripe tomato, a serrano pepper, half an onion, 2 cloves of garlic, a generous couple of teaspoons of cumin and coriander (ground), and about a tsp of dried oregano (organic, from last summer's garden).  Also, about 1/4-1/3 a mexican beer.  It all got whirred up.

Then, I heated oil in a pan and poured the pepper mixture in and lightly fried/cooked it.  While it bubbled, (for 3-5 minutes) I mashed half a can of drained black beans in a bowl.  Then, added the mashed beans, the rest of the can, and another whole can of drained black beans.  If it looks dry, you can pour in some of the extra beer.  I thought it looked plenty soupy, so I drank the rest of the beer.

I let it bubble, stirring frequently, for about 20-30 minutes until they were less soupy.  I served them in tortillas with yellow rice, cheese, quac, sour cream, and pickled jalapenos.  It was tasty.  Not spicy in the least (without the jalapenos).  And, I have dinner made for tomorrow night, because once again we were stood up by the Chinese red army.