Cuban Black Beans

"This is my Mother's favorite black bean recipe. I think she got it from an old Cuban cookbook. Her note is: "flavorful!" Cooking time doesn't include soaking time."
 
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photo by Miss Hannah photo by Miss Hannah
photo by Miss Hannah
photo by Junebug photo by Junebug
Ready In:
2hrs 42mins
Ingredients:
15
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Wash beans.
  • In a large pot, soak the beans with the first chopped bell pepper in water until swollen. Overnight?.
  • **It doesn't say so but I'd drain it at this point and add new water so the beans won't be so musical if you know what I mean.**.
  • Cook until soft about 45 minutes.
  • Heat oil in a medium pan. Add onion, second bell pepper and garlic and cook until soft.
  • Add 1 cup of cooked beans and mash them well. Add mixture to bean pot.
  • Add dry seasonings to the pot.
  • Cover and boil 1 hour.
  • Add vinegar and wine.
  • Cover and simmer 1 hour.
  • If broth is too watery, uncover and cook until it thickens.
  • Just before serving stir in the olive oil.

Questions & Replies

  1. What are the directions for "cook for 45 min" what size pot? Over what heat? Boil? Covered? Thank you!!!! ??
     
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Reviews

  1. I've made these multiple times, once with no changes, and the other times, I reduce the olive oil to 1/4 cup and reduce salt to 2 teaspoons, for lower fat and sodium. It tastes just as good with these adjustments. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
     
  2. I have tried several Cuban Black Bean recipes and this was by far the best! It got rave reviews at home and an empty bowl at a potluck. I like to rate recipes for themselves without changes, but just as an FYI, I did use a red bell pepper and half the oil, and they were still incredible!
     
  3. Delicious. I've never had Cuban Black Beans, but these were great. I added chopped carrots, and skipped the wine. The vinegar was great - I tried it before and after - definitely better after. It rounds out the flavor with slightly sweet notes, and brings out the other flavors. I added salt until it tasted right, but it was definitely less than 4 Tbs. (maybe 1-2 tsp). Wonderful served as a vegetarian meal, with some rice. Also very good wrapped in a tortilla.
     
  4. These are so, so delicious. The oldest recipes are sometimes the best, right? I added more water to mine, because I like mine more soupy. My husband likes them thicker, so I add less water when I make these for him. I also added a little bit of Cumin, I love the flavor of cumin with black beans. I also add small pieces of smoked sausage because my husband likes meat in his beans and it is really good! I serve these beans with Jasmine rice, really good. Thank you for the delicious beans, I make them several times per month!
     
  5. I love, love, love this recipe. I have made it time and time again. I shared it with some friends, and they asked for the recipe, and now they make them as well. I did make a few alterations, I reduced the salt, added carrot and omited the sugar and most of the olive oil. Served over cilantro lime rice, fab fab fab!! It is my go to recipe for black beans.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I made these and undercooked the beans because I was in a rush. So while thinking how else I could serve them, I made some chicken livers and went ahead and cooked the blood when the livers were done. Added the cooked liver blood to some beans and processed them thinking maybe a soup would emerge. No soup but a very fine 'pate' bean dip was born that day, kind of like pate but not as fatty. If just making the beans, I would make them a day ahead and let the flavors meld overnight, they really tasted nice the day after.
     
  2. I followed the recipe, but soaked the beans overnight with a little baking soda, then threw out the soaking water. Instead of green bell pepper i used a few small specialty green peppers and half of a red chilli pepper. I also used a bit of cumin, because my mother (from Cuba and i was born there as well) always used cumin and I loved how it turned out. I haven’t made black beans in a while, but its almost cooked and smells delicious! Thanks for the authentic recipe.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm not as active here anymore, but you can find me playing at the new recipezazz.com. I'm not a great photographer, but I love to take food photos with Freddy Cat to bring a smile to people's day. I love to cook and share good food with other people. I have a very large collection of cookbooks. I used to enjoy being able to look up recipes on Zaar by ingredients I had on hand. I miss the Zaar tag game community. Everyone was so nice, and it was super fun. Ah, the good ol' days.
 
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