Cuban Black Beans

This is recipe for my family’s Cuban Black Beans which you can eat as a soup or really thicken to put over your rice. Also, it’s the same basic recipe if you want to make red beans or lentils, although I usually add a ham bone or some other ham/pork product to those for additional substance.

Without further ado — Caridad’s Cuban Black Beans!

Ingredients

Cooking the beans:

There are those you believe in soaking the beans overnight. My family never did this, but it will speed up the cooking time. The one thing to remember is — DO NOT THROW OUT THE SOAKING WATER! It has a lot of the flavor from the beans and you will lose all that flavor if you toss it. Also, don’t soak the beans too long or they will begin to ferment.

If you don’t soak, it will mean simmering the beans for a longer amount of time, but on a cold day, the smell and heat are a welcome thing.

So, before you soak (or not), rinse the beans to get rid of any field dirt and also, pick through them for any bad beans or small stones.

Once the beans are clean, place them in a stockpot, dutch oven or heavy cast iron kettle. Add the water, wine, bay leaves, onion, pepper, and cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Make sure to stir it a few times to make sure the beans are not sticking to the bottom.

Once the water is boiling, turn it down so that it is a slow simmer. Simmer with the cover on for at least 3 to 4 hours. The water should start to thicken from the beans. You can test to see if the beans are done by tasting one. It should not be hard.

To finish the beans, fry up the onion, red pepper and garlic and add it to the cooked beans along with the sherry. Adjust the taste with salt to your liking.

You can serve the beans over white rice. Cubans call this moros y cristianos. You can also eat this alone as a soup. If you do this, garnish it with raw onions, cheddar cheese, avocados or chopped ham.

Hope you like today’s Cook’s Treat.