Habichuelas Guisadas

These are my TOP SECRET STEWED BEANS.... My Puerto Rican friends can't get enough of these, even though I'm Irish! My husband is from P.R., so I really had no choice but to learn how to make this recipe! I serve this with white or yellow rice, and most of the time some roasted chicken. Enjoy, and feel free to leave a review!

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 3  tablespoons  achiote
• 4  tablespoons  sofrito sauce
• 1  onion, diced
• 1  red pepper, diced
• 1⁄2 cup  diced cooking ham
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 (15 ounce) cans pink beans
• 1  medium yucca root
• 3  medium potatoes
• 2  green plantains
• 1  teaspoon sazon goya con culantro y achiote
• 3⁄4 teaspoon adobo seasoning
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Wash, peel and cut all of the vegetables into 2 inch pieces.
2. Boil them all in a large pot of salted water for 15 minutes over medium heat, or until slightly tender.Drain, and set aside.
3. In another large pot, heat achiote oil over medium heat. Add the ham, and cook for four minutes.
4. Add the sofrito, the onion, and the pepper and cook for three minutes.
5. Add the sauce, beans, water and the seasonings. Stir well.
6. After six minutes, add the yucca and the potatoes.
7. Now comes the fun part -- Take the cooled platanos, and mash them in a bowl with 1/4 - 1/2 Tsp of salt add about 1 Tbls. of water, and mash until they are almost free of any lumps. Take a small amount of the mixture, and form a ball about the size of a walnut. Continue with the rest of the mixture, and then add all of the balls to the pot of beans.Mix gently, as to not break any.
8. Cover the pot and lower the heat to low. You can simmer them for UP TO two hours, very slowly, and stir them every twenty minutes or so, or they will stick to the bottom. Or you can put them in a 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. I like to use the oven, because you don't have to stir the pot during cooking.