Moors and Christians (Black Beans and Rice)

By stancec44

From 'Hands On Spanish Flavors' class with Chef Shelley McDaniel, at In Good Taste, September 11, 2010

Ingredients

• For the Rice:
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 c. Spanish short grain rice (such as paella rice or via lone none or Arborio)
• 4 c. vegetable stock
• Salt & Pepper
• For the Beans:
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 oz. Serrano ham, or bacon or prosciutto or other smoked ham
• 2 lg. poblano chilies, seed and diced into 3/8” dice
• 1 lg. onion, diced into 1/4” dice
• 2 piquillo peppers, or roasted red peppers, diced
• 2 lg. garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 c. to 1-1/2 c. vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
• 4 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped finely

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

To Make the Rice:
Heat the oil in a med. saucepan. Add the rice and stir to coat and cook for 1 minute. Add the vegetable broth, a little salt and pepper (judge how much salt to add by how salty the veggie stock is).

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low simmer and cook for 20 minutes, uncovered and without stirring, until most of the broth is absorbed and you start seeing small holes appear in the surface. If at the end of the 20 minutes, there is still liquid, cover the pot and remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes for the rice to absorb the liquid.

Fluff with a fork before serving

To Make the Beans:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the ham and cook for 2 minutes to flavor the oil. Add the diced peppers and onions and cook until the onion has softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and the piquillo peppers and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the beans and the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, until the stock has mostly evaporated and the chilies are softened.

Stir in the sherry vinegar and cook for another minute and taste and add more salt & pepper if needed.

To Serve:

On a serving platter, put the rice in a ring around the outside edge (or even use a ring mold if you want to make it really fancy). Put the bean mixture in the center of the white rice and garnish with the finely chopped parsley.