Black Beans From Scratch For Tina

Ingredients:

1 12-14 oz. bag of dried black beans

2 medium size green peppers

2 medium size yellow onions

1 small ham hock

4-6 cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons of oregano

2 teaspoons of cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

2 teaspoons Apple Cider vinegar

2 teaspoons of granulated sugar

The night before you cook the black beans, put them in your pot, rinse them with water once, and then cover them with water to soak overnight. As you can see I forgot to take the picture of the black beans in the bag the night before, oh well, sorry........anyway. The next morning place one seeded and cut in half green pepper, along with 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, and the ham hock in your pot. Bring to boil and cook for 1 hour until the beans soften. If you have to add more water, go ahead. You want the beans covered plus a little more.

I cover my pot like this, turn down the heat to medium and cook for 1 hour.



After the hour is up, test the beans to see if they have softened, not too too soft, there's still more cooking time and the will be just soft enough when you finish.



While the beans are cooking you can dice up your 2 onions, 1 green pepper, and 6 cloves of garlic.

Put enough olive oil in a skillet to cover the bottom.

Add the diced onion and green pepper and for about 5 minutes, and then add the garlic and continue cooking about another 5 minutes.


Pour your trinity into the pot of beans, add 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, and 2 teaspoons of cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste. I add approximately 5 teaspoons of salt, and about 15 turns of my pepper mill.


Cook for another 30 minutes or so. You want the beans to finish cooking and the flavors to blend together. You also want the liquid to thicken a bit, so cook it on medium with the top off. Stir and stir.

Note: Remember the two secret ingredients. Just add 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider vinegar, and 2 teaspoons of sugar, and stir. Add them the last 15 minutes.



Serve on top of white rice or yellow rice, with steak, chicken, pork or fish.



Please keep in mind that I do most of my cooking without measuring cups or spoons, unless it absolutely necessary. So, you can tweak this recipe to your own taste. I know cooks who sautee pork loin chunks in olive oil and then add them to the beans, and it is just delicious. You can double the recipe in order to have enough beans to freeze. One more thing, the beans are always better the second day. So please don't judge me until you are eating them the second time.

I hope you like this recipe and please email me (after the second day, lol) if you have any questions.

I Wish You Love and Good Frijoles Negro,

Mimi J