CUBAN BLACK BEAN STEW RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a medium heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, green pepper, Sazón seasoning, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly darker in color and thickened, about 1 minute. Add the vino seco to deglaze the pan, scraping any browned bits with a wooden spoon.
• Add the garbanzo beans, potatoes, chorizo and 5 cups of water. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, then cover the pot and simmer until the potatoes are tender and the chickpeas are very soft, about 20 minutes. Once the potatoes have softened, use the back of a wooden spoon to crush some of them against the side of the pot to thicken the stew. Serve the stew over hot rice, if desired.

Steps:

• 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 ½ green pepper into ¼-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, jalapeño (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 ½-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.