Cuban Black Beans - Taste the Islands
Author: Katie Hidden
Description: This recipe for Cuban Black Beans isn't the one you'll find in a can on the supermarket shelves. This recipe is loaded with chunks of ham, bacon and spices.
Date: 2015-12-29T18:09:28+00:00

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# Cuban Black Beans

Posted by Katie Hidden On December 29, 2015 4 Comments

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Cuban Black Beans

This recipe for Cuban Black Beans isn’t the one you’ll find in a can on the supermarket shelves. This recipe is loaded with chunks of ham, bacon and spices. It’s meant to be cooked thick and hearty and served over a steaming helping of hot white rice. Enjoy!

Serves 8

### INGREDIENTS

- 1 ½ green peppers, stemmed and seeded
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed and picked over to remove any stones
- 1 smoked ham hock
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 tsp salt, or to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 slices thick bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 spanish onion, diced
- 1 jalapeño, stemmed and finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 1 tbsp turbinado or other brown sugar

### START THE BEANS AND THE HAM HOCK

1. Cut 1 green pepper into 1-inch squares.
2. Smash and peel 4 of the garlic cloves.
3. Put the green pepper and garlic into a large pot with the beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon salt.
4. Add 2 quarts water and bring to a boil.
5. Cover the pot and simmer until the beans are tender, an hour or more.

### MEANWHILE, MAKE A SOFRITO

1. Cut the remaining ½ green pepper into ¼-inch dice.
2. Peel and finely chop the remaining garlic.
3. Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the green pepper and onion and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
6. Add the garlic, jalapeño (leave out the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy), oregano, cumin, black pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and stir for another minute.
7. Pour in the vinegar and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon.

### PUT THEM TOGETHER

1. When the beans are cooked, discard the bay leaf.
2. Remove and set aside the ham hock and let it cool.
3. Transfer 1 cup of beans to small bowl, mash them into a paste with the back of a fork and return to the pot.
4. Add the sofrito, then the sugar.
5. Pull the meat from the ham hock, leaving behind any white sinew or gristle.
6. Chop the ham into ½-inch pieces and return it to the bean pot.
7. Stir the beans well and bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so, skimming any foam from the top.
8. Taste for salt and serve with white rice.

Adapted from The New York Times

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## There are 4 Comments.

1. veda sherman
   4:17 pm March 5, 2016

   So glad to get this black bean recipe. I will omit the ham bone as I’d like
   to cook the beans as a vegetable dish.Please share suggestions. Thank you.

   Reply
   - Admin
     9:24 am March 7, 2016

     Hi Veda. Our suggestion will always be to do what feels right. In Caribbean cooking, we don’t actually use too many recipes. Most of us make traditional food by memory from having seen it made by our mothers and grandmothers. Chef Irie will tell you to add scotch bonnet peppers to everything. Our new chef Thia will tell you to add garlic and parsley. Whatever you do, please enjoy, and if you have a suggestion, please share it with us and our readers as well!

     Reply
2. Kitty
   10:27 pm April 30, 2016

   Use smoked salt or liquid smoke to give the smoky flavor from the ham hock. I like to use mushrooms such as portabella. They offer a texture that is meaty without the meat.

   Reply
   - Admin
     10:54 am May 1, 2016

     Thanks for those suggestions Kitty. Please keep them coming!

     Reply

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