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Caribbean Red Bean and Pork Stew

Ingredients

Soaking and Cooking the Red Beans

  • 1 1/2 cups dried small red beans or pinto beans
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 onion
  • 1 piece of leafy celery top
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 clove garlic peeled
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Making the Stew

  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 pound pork stew meat or pork loin or loin chops cut into 1" cube
  • 2 cups cubed and peeled sweet potato
  • 1 green bell pepper cored, seeded and chopped
  • 1 onion peeled and diced
  • 1 Tbs chopped garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp paprika or ground red pepper

Instructions

Red Beans

  • If you plan ahead, soak the beans overnight covered in water. If you don't start until mid afternoon, cover the beans with a few inches of water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat and let the beans soak for an hour with the lid on.
  • Drain the soaked beans.
  • Cook the beans in the 8 cups of water with the onion, bay leaf, celery top, garlic clove and cinnamon stick until tender, about 1 1/2 hours unless your beans are really old. Reserve 4 cups of the cooking liquid and drain the beans. Discard the vegetables, bay leaf and cinnamon stick.

Making the Stew

  • In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and brown the cubed pork all over.  
  • Add the sweet potato, onion, green pepper, garlic and salt. Cook until the onions are translucent and soft, about 12-15 minutes. 
  • Add the paprika and stir in. Then add the cooked beans and the reserved 4 cups of liquid from cooking the beans. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered about an hour, stirring periodically.