I was making this fantastic Cuban Pork Roast for dinner tonight and wanted some Cuban Black Beans to go with it. I Googled and saw the pattern:
some sugar
some vinegar
some alcohol (wine or rum)
some sautéed onion, green pepper, and garlic added after an hour of cooking the beans in water
dried herbs including oregano and a bay leaf for sure, cumin possibly
hot sauce either at the table or in the beans as they cooked
These were really good! I served them over white rice with the sliced pork. What a feast.
In another day we’ll have Cuban Pork Sandwiches with the leftover roast. I saved the juices from the roast to make the mojo sauce.
Ellen’s Sort of Cuban Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound black beans
- water to cover plus 2″ I didn’t measure
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- another green pepper, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 Tbs salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 rounded teaspoon sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 Tbs red wine vinegar
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup rum
Instructions
- Soak the beans and the first green pepper in the water. You could do this overnight. I just threw the beans and the chopped green pepper in the water this morning and left it there till 3:30pm when I came down to start them cooking. I did drain the beans and add new water. That’s optional. Just make sure you cover the beans plus 2″ of water when you start them cooking.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook an hour.
- At some point during this time saute the second green pepper, onion, and garlic in the olive oil until soft.
- After the beans have cooked an hour, add the cooked pepper, onion, and garlic to them. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, sugar, and bay leaf. Cook another hour, covered, at a simmer.
- Stir in the vinegar and rum. Cook, covered, another hour.
- You’re probably left with a lot of broth at this point. Take the cover off and simmer until it thickens up. Use a potato masher to mash up some of the beans to thicken it.
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