- 8
Ingredients
- 8-10 SERVINGS
- 1-1/2 green peppers, stemmed and seeded
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over to remove any stones
- 1 smoked ham hock
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 slices thick bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 Spanish onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno stemmed and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground
- black pepper
- 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon turbinado or other brown sugar.
Preparation
Step 1
Cut 1 green pepper into 1-inch squares.
Smash and peel 4 of the garlic cloves.
Put the green pepper and garlic into a large pot with the beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon salt. Add 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer until the beans are tender, an hour or more.
Meanwhile, make a sofrito. Cut the remaining green pepper into 1/2-inch dice. Peel and finely chop the remaining garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the green pepper and onion and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic, jalapeno-leave out the seeds if you don't want it too spicy-oregano, cumin, black pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and stir for another minute.
Pour in the vinegar and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. This is your sofrito.
When the beans are cooked, discard the bay leaf. Remove and set aside the ham hock and let it cool.
Transfer 1 cup of beans to small bowl, mash them into a paste with the back of a fork and return to the pot.
Add the sofrito, then the sugar. Pull the meat from the ham hock, leaving behind any white sinew or gristle.
Chop the ham into 1/2-inch pieces and return it to the bean pot.
Stir the beans well and bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so, skimming any foam from the top.
Taste for salt and serve with white rice.
Serves 8 to 10.