Cuban | Cuban Black Beans

Posted on March 11, 2014

Serve over white rice. The recipe didn't specify fresh or dried oregano, I used fresh since I have an oregano plant. Also didn't say what type of vinegar, I used white vinegar.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups dried black beans

8 cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper

3 cloves garlic mashed with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

olive oil for sautéing

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons vinegar

6 ounces dry Spanish wine

salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons sugar

olive oil

cilantro (optional)

white onion, chopped (optional)

 

Method

Place the cleaned black beans in a 6-quart saucepan. Cover the beans with water and let stand covered overnight. Drain and discard water.

Add water and olive oil to the beans in the pan - this will prevent the beans from foaming. Bring the beans to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the beans are tender - about 1 hour. Do not add salt to the beans when they are cooking! Salt at this stage of the game will make your beans very tough!

You may, instead, cook the beans in a pressure cooker. Follow the manufacturer's directions for exact times, but our pressure cooker takes about 20 to 25 minutes to cook the beans completely.

Whichever method you use, do not drain the water from the cooked beans!

Meanwhile, chop onion and green pepper. Mash the garlic with salt and peppercorns with a mortar and pestle. Sauté onion and green pepper in olive oil until onion is translucent. Add mashed garlic and sauté another minute or so.

Add the cooked beans, oregano, cumin, bay leaf, vinegar, and wine. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.

Some cooks like to thicken the beans by taking about 1 cup of beans and mashing them slightly to make a thick paste. Mix mashed beans back into the pot.

Add more salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the sugar; then drizzle several tablespoon of olive oil over the beans. Immediately cover the pot and remove from heat; let stand for 10 minutes.

You may garnish the beans with cilantro and chopped white onion.

 

(Ref. "Frijoles Negros - Black Beans" recipe, Three Guys from Miami Cook Cuban, page 172.)