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I finally stumbled upon making restaurant style refried beans after making them for decades. You can use a number of different types of beans for your recipe. Pinto, Peruvian, or black beans.

First you wash the beans to get any dirt or foreign material out. Then you cover with water to soak over night. Drain off water and recover with water and essentially boil till soft. Do not salt as it takes longer to make soft.

The rest are variations for flavor. I use a smoked Hamhock for flavor along with a couple of bay leaves and cloves of garlic. You can quarter an onion and some chopped chili's. Instead of water you can use Chicken stock or even beer. It is up to you for the flavor profile that you like?

After the beans are soft you put some Lard, bacon fat or vegetable oil in a heavy skillet along with a portion of the beans, salt to taste and fry them.

At this point the way I have been doing them is to use a potatoe masher to mash them to a coarse consistency. You can add a bit of bean cooking liquid for the consistency that you like. You can melt some cheese over them while still in the pan frying.

What I have done differently this time out is to put the whole batch of beans (less the Hamhock and bay leaves etc) and some liquid in a blender and puree them till smooth. Then I fried a portion in some Lard, letting them boil off the liquid till I get the consistency I desired. I think I am going to do it this way from now on end.

I used Peruvian beans which gives a very soft and creamy bean. I also used a touch of cumin and chili powder for flavoring.