Perfect Black Bean Goodness, the ultimate comfort food. Did I mention that it’s vegetarian? Most black beans are made with some combination of pork: fat, sausage, bacon drippings, etc. On top of the rich meaty taste of the beans, the pork flavors them during cooking.
And cook they will. For an hour plus. Making beans requires forethought, something I’ve generally lacked, and patience, something we are all improving upon. In any case, making beans is an essential kitchen skill.
Beans are probably the most economical of meals. But their cheapness is only one of their many fine qualities. Make a large pot of beans and you have dinner for the next few days. Moreover, leftover beans only get more and more flavorful, something not every dish can flaunt.
This recipe is a combination of cooking knowledge from 2 amazing women. My mom who’s sofrito method I use, and Ms. Dragonwagon who has an ingenuity at making healthy and richly flavorful vegetarian recipes. (See my note at the end of the post for specifics on what changed and what stayed the same)
OK, OK, gimme the recipe: Perfect Black Bean Goodness recipe
Start with a little forethought. Cover the beans with water and soak overnight or all day while you work.
Drain the beans and place them in a large dutch oven. Add water until they are covered about a 1/2 inch, about 8 cups.
Here’s what we’ll need for our first round of flavor. 1 entire onion, 6 cloves, 1 head of garlic, 2 bay leaves, and some fresh oregano (It’s from my herb garden).
Take the 6 whole cloves and stud the onion. Push them into the onion like nails- that is what cloves look like.
Add all of this to the pot. Yes, the skins is on for the onion and the garlic head. Trust me on this.
Bring to a boil, then lower to medium-low and cook 1 hour.
After an hour, add chopped sweet potatoes and rough chopped carrots. Lots of orange color=lots of beta carotene.
After an hour an a half of cooking, fish out the whole head of garlic and clove-studded onion. Set aside the garlic and discard the onion. Here’s what they should look like, a mess.
Make the sofrito. We’ll need another diced onion, 6 cloves minced garlic (not shown), about 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, and 2 diced bell peppers.
Cook these ingredients in large saute pan with a little olive oil.
Add in 1 diced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Oh…I love this stuff.
Saute these aromatics 4-5 minutes.
Add in half a can of tomato paste. (Use a 6-ounce can)
And coat all of the sauteed vegetables. Cook another 3-4 minutes.
Add the sofrito to the beans. Also add more flavor in the form of 1 1/2 tablespoons of ground cumin smoky goodness, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, zest of one orange, and salt to taste (1-2 teaspoons).
Remember that cooked head of garlic. This is the true secret to giving these beans a depth of flavor. Squeeze out all the garlic pulp onto a plate and stir into the beans. It will be very messy, and you will be utterly tempted to lick off pieces of garlic pulp on your fingers; go ahead, my full support is behind you, just don’t “taste” it all.
Cook another few minutes for all the flavors to get friendly with each other. Serve with rice. Trust me this stuff only gets better with time.
Recipe Notes: This recipe was inspired by my mentor-vegetarian, Crescent Dragonwagon, from her Black Bean Feijoada recipe. I followed her process for the preliminary cooking of the beans, using a clove-studded onion and entire head of garlic with its cooked puree added in afterwards. This method has completely transformed how I cook beans. I also kept the orange zest and chipotle, a classic combination. I changed her process based on how my mom taught me to make beans which is to combine the aromatics (onions, garlic, bell pepper holy trinity) in a separate saute with tomato paste. I also didn’t add any of the soy-meats to make it a feijoada.
