Thursday, February 17, 2011

Cuban-style Black Beans

This recipe is for a 1 kg bag of black beans. To do a 1-pound bag, you'd need to divide everything in this recipe by half, and then use slightly less than that amount. Sorry I can't be more specific.

Ingredients:
1000 g. bag dried black beans (sort them, and pull out any bad beans or -gasp!- stones)
1-2 garlic heads, crushed
4 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 bay leaf
4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lg. yellow onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp. cumin
2 jalepeno peppers, seeded & chopped
4 Tbsp. vinegar (I use lemon vinegar, it's all we have here, and it works fine.)
salt & pepper to taste


STEP ONE:
Presoak the beans. Choose one of the following (don't do both):
  • Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, and let stand for 2 hours. (I prefer this method, and think the beans are less smushy this way.)
  • Soak beans for 8 hours overnight in fridge.
After soaking beans, drain in strainer & rinse with cool water.

STEP TWO:
Return beans to pot or dutch oven. Then add:
  • 8 c. water
  • 12+ cloves garlic, crushed
  • 4 Tbsp. crushed oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
Bring to boil. Simmer 2 hours. Drain & return to pot.

STEP THREE:
In small skillet, heat 4 tsp. olive oil. Add 2 lg onions (chopped) & chopped red bell pepper. Heat until softened. Add 2 Tbsp cumin & 2 seeded & chopped jalepeno peppers. Heat 1 minute more.

STEP FOUR:
Add 4 Tbsp. vinegar & onion mixture to beans. Salt & pepper to taste.


If desired, these beans can then be mixed with 2 cups of rice to make black beans and rice, or added to soups, casseroles, Black Bean & Corn salsa (add in chopped red onions, 1 bag frozen corn, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and 2 chopped tomatoes), or any other Mexican dish you can dream up. We often use them as one of the options for make-your-own burritos with large groups of guests. They're delicious just by themselves too! Enjoy!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe, Jessica. It's the best I've ever had.
For those who like the real home taste of food, try this recipe, you'll love it