Recipe by Luis Simón
Photography by Chia Chong
Styling by Libbie Summers
The smoothest black beans north of Cuba.
Luis’ Cuban Black Beans
serves 6
Ingredients:
2 cups organic dried black beans, picked over and rinsed thoroughly
1 bay leaf
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into four pieces (you can also use a roasted red bell pepper, which gives amazing flavor)
3 teaspoons kosher salt
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons whole roasted cumin seed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 cup olive oil plus more for drizzling when serving
1 large Vidalia onion, diced
1 glass red wine
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
6 cups prepared rice (optional for serving)
Directions: In a 6 quart pressure cooker over medium high heat, add the beans, bay leaf, bell pepper and 8 cups water and seal with the lid. Following the manufacturer’s instructions, cover, lock the lid, and bring to high pressure. Cook on high until the pressure kicks in, then lower to a simmer for about 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes before releasing the steam (following the manufacturer’s directions).
While beans are cooking, prepare the sofrito. Into the bowl of a mortar and pestle, add the salt, garlic, cumin seed and black peppercorns. Mash and set aside. To a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, add the oil and diced onion. Cook until the onions become translucent (about 5 minutes). Stir in the garlic mixture and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Stir the sofrito into the beans and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the red wine, vinegar and sugar. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf and discard. Taste and adjust seasoning.
To serve: Ladle beans over rice and drizzle with extra olive oil.
Luis’ Notes: I recommend a good quality pressure cooker. Swiss brand, Kuhn Rikon, makes a great one. Quiet, efficient and feels much safer than the old-school cookers with their train whistles and spurting steam.
Also, you may want to encourage anyone who uses one to please, please follow directions. They can be very dangerous when not used properly; we have a friend who tried to make my beans, didn’t follow pressure cooker directions and it exploded. Luckily, he wasn’t in the kitchen, but it was a disaster.
Libbie’s Tip: When cooking any beans in a pressure cooker, I always add a couple of tablespoons of oil to the beans before they start cooking. The oil will prevent the beans from foaming up and clogging the steam vent of the pressure cooker.
