Cuban Black Beans
I love beans, but Cuban Black Beans are my hands down favorite. And while there are numerous ways to make them, I love them best when they are cooked low and slow. That marrying of flavors over the long cooking process just can’t be beat.
Bon Appetit!
Estimated Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Estimated Time: 8 hours, 10 minutes + 1 hour to overnight for soaking
Estimated Servings: 6 (a)
Estimated Calories per Serving: 100
Helpful Kitchen Tools
Dutch Oven
Ingredients
1 lb bag dried Black Beans
Water
1/8-1/4 tsp Baking Soda (a)
2 Bay Leaves
Salt (to taste and as needed)
1-1 1/2 c Sofrito (see recipe)
Cooked Rice (white or brown)
Directions
1. Place the beans in a large mixing bowl, cover with water (by at least three inches), cover the bowl with a towel and let set anywhere from one hour to overnight. This step can be skipped, but the beans will take longer to soften.
2. Thoroughly rinse and drain the beans and pick over as needed.
3. Place the drained beans in large, thick-walled pot (a Dutch oven works best). Add water, at least an inch and a half above the beans (more if not soaking). Add all the remaining ingredients except a couple of dashes of salt and the sofrito (I used one cup). Stir to combine. Cover and set stovetop temperature to medium low.
4. Stir occasionally, adding water and/or salt as needed.
5. Once the beans have reached a reasonably chewable (meaning you won’t break your teeth) but not soft level and the remaining water has gone down considerably but still lightly covers the beans, add the sofrito {this will ensure the sofrito has time to blend but won’t become watered down). Stir and cover.
6. Continue very low simmering until the beans are the desired tenderness.
7. Either plate immediately and serve over rice, or refrigerate overnight, to let the flavor settle, before heating and serving.
Cook’s Notes:
I first started eating Cuban-style Black Beans when I was a kid. My mother would make them for my stepfather, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Oddly, she always made Cuban Black Beans paired with a Puerto Rican-style Picnic (see recipe).
Shortly after reaching adulthood I was living in southern Florida. There was a fairly wide array of both Cuban and Puerto Rican restaurants one or the other of which I would eat at least once a week. Once I moved out of Florida, finding any kind of authentic Cuban or Puerto Rican food became an exercise in futility. So, I hopped on the phone with my mother and learned how to make both the beans and the picnic.
My first attempt at the beans was a resounding disaster. I obviously missed the all-important mention that beans need salt to soften. From that point onward, I learned how to add salt in tiny increments, as needed. And eventually I learned the wonderful hack of using baking soda (a). Since that time, the amount of salt needed to soften the beans has, at the least, halved from what I was using up to that point. The best part of the hack is it breaks down the toughest part of the bean first, the seed coat.
I also prefer making this recipe from dried beans, as I will have plenty of leftovers for future meals. I divided this last batch into thirds, each of which is at least four servings. One I placed in the fridge to go with the picnic and the other two I packed away in Chinese soup containers and froze. Now all I have to do is pull a container out, let it defrost and heat the beans back up. I can either serve them as is or toss some dried rice in my rice cooker and serve them over piping hot rice.
In the early days I would either make or buy sofrito. But as time passed, I started just winging it. I finally realized I was doing my beans (and picnic) an injustice and have started making my own sofrito again. Sadly, having just recently made it, I realized that not making required more prep time. Where before I would have to mince and dice everything, now I just have to chunk it and let the immersion blender chopper attachment do all the heavy lifting. Live and learn.
With this version I used one cup of sofrito, which was delicious. I measured it out from the sofrito I made in advance and left the remainder for the picnic. However, in future, I think I will use a little more to give it a little more impact.
Sources:
· https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calories.asp?recipe=66623
· https://www.eatingwell.com/article/292167/the-weird-reason-you-should-be-adding-baking-soda-to-your-beans/#:~:text=Here%27s%20why%3A%20%22The%20addition%20of,to%20soften%20much%20more%20rapidly.
Ingredient & Direction Notes:
a. When serving with rice, the number of servings per easily doubles, if not triples, depending on appetites.
b. According to Eating Well, “The addition of baking soda to the cooking water does two things: It adds sodium ions that weaken the pectin, and more importantly, an alkaline environment causes the pectin molecules to break down into smaller molecules that greatly weakens the pectin causing the beans to soften much more rapidly.” I originally found this hack quite a while back, from another website, and it worked amazingly well. I generally only use one eighth to one quarter of a teaspoon per pound of beans; but according to Eating Well a teaspoonful per one cup of dried beans can be used. I imagine this amount will greatly speed up the process.
