Comfort Food

I think I have just rediscovered one of my favorite comfort foods. I made it yesterday, and it brought back memories of days on the farm, when we ate a lot of crock pot meals in general, and beans specifically.

My mom and dad lived in Lehigh, FL for a while, and while there they found this little Cuban restaraunt that served wonderful black beans and rice. So my mom somehow found out how to make them, and they were served frequently while I was growing up. For some reason she never specifically instructed me on how to make them, so I had to go on a recipe hunt to find a variation I liked.

There are lots of different recipes, but I opted for one that I could make vegetarian without adding chorizo or something. I omitted the bacon, of course, and the celery since I didn't have it, and the tomato. I also didn't add but a TB of vinegar to the recipe, after thinking perhaps it helps to soften the beans during cooking. Another thing I did was to brown the onions and peppers to begin with, then add the beans and start cooking. This causes them to break down, and all my pretty little red pepper bits disappeared after several hours. (duh) Won't do that again. I shall: a) Cook my beans. b)Proceed with the rest of the recipe, adding broth and all spices. I just remember my mom doing it in the crockpot and having nice chunks of cooked green pepper mixed in. *sigh* I'll need to perfect this, methinks.

I soaked my beans all afternoon and overnight, but wish I had boiled them a minute or two, and then left to soak. Black beans seem like they are so hard to cook! At least the past few experiences have not been good. For instance, I tried some in the crockpot over a year ago, and let it suffice to say that after 3 days or so, they were still crunchy and tasted gross. Not my idea of great beans.

So I started cooking them before lunch, and it took about 5-6 hours until they were tender enough to consume. I read somewhere that adding salt can make them tough, so I waited until they were mostly cooked before adding it. They seemed to do alright. As for spices, I added lots of cumin and some thyme. When I replenish my stock, I will add oregano as well.

I got some great organic basmati rice from the co-op, so cooked that up and served the beans over top, with finely chopped onions and a good shake or two of balsamic vinegar. Yumm!

 

To complete the meal, I made some cuban bread that didn't need a starter. It didn't take as long as I thought, because you basically let it rise once...the second time, after shaping you let it rest for 10 minutes in the oven with hot water, and then turn the oven on 400' and let 'em go. It develops such a scrumtious crust on it...

So I served leftovers for lunch today. I'm SO glad DH gets to come home for lunch. I love seeing him in the middle of the day, and it's so convenient that he works about 4 minutes away.

I decided to make the cuban bread into garlic bread, so pounded out a smaller clove, lest I make it too strong and overwhelm his co-workers with the intensity of his breathiness. (Also ~ note to self. Refrain from softening butter in the toaster oven since you gave up the microwave. This invariably results in melted butter dripping all over, with the center core still hard as anything. There are better ways to produce soft, ready-to-mix and spread butter. Grrr!) Between the onions and the garlic, this is one meal best eaten by all parties involved! And hopefully it will boost immune defense and such for the upcoming sickly months. I'm planning on staving off bugs as best I can, after last year's bouts. And I think with better bowel health and kefir in hand, I'm well prepared.

So try some black beans this week, and let me know how well you like them!