When I was a young boy I went with my family on a short-term mission trip to Haiti. While there, one night late, on the way back from a trip in-country, we stopped at the house of a lady who was a member of the church the missionaries were working with, and she had fixed beans and rice. It was the most wonderful beans and rice I think I have ever eaten in my life, ever since.
Last week, I tried this “Cuban Black Beans and Rice” recipe. I was hoping it would be close to my childhood memory. It wasn’t. Here’s the recipe, which I reproduce below:
Yummy, inexpensive and makes tons.
1 lb dried black bean, sorted and rinsed
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
5 cups water
2 Tbs olive oil
4 Tbs ground cumin (optional)
1 finely chopped jalapeno
1 tsp salt
3 cups hot cooked rice, for servingSoak beans overnight and discard soak water. Combine all ingredients except rice in crockpot and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until beans are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove bay leaves. Serve beans over rice.
So, I ask you, dear readers: what’s the missing ingredient? How would Haitian beans & rice be different? This turned out hot, but a little bland (admittedly, I didn’t put in the jalapeno, but I did substitute red pepper flakes). Any suggestions?
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I have this recipe from a free kindle book: A Taste of Haiti. Incidentally I spent a summer in Haiti as a college student and also really enjoyed the beans and rice and had looked for a way to replicate it. I haven’t tried this recipe yet so you’ll have to let us know how it compares.
1 cup dried kidney beans (or 1 12oz can cooked beans)
3tsp salt or to taste
2tbs oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 scallion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
2 cups long grain rice
2 whole cloves
1 green scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
1 thyme sprig
1 parsley spring (optional)
wash beans and drain. Place in a saucepan with 6 cups of water and 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer on med-low heat, uncovered for 1 to 1.5 hours. When their skins wrinkle, taste to see that they are fork tender. Drain and reserve liquid for cooking the rice.
Heat oil in a caste iron pot on med heat. Stir in garlic, onion, scallion, 2tsp salt and black pepper for 2 minutes. Add and stir the cooked or canned beans and fry for 5 minutes until the beans are crisp. Add 4 cups of liquid from cooked beans, or add water, and bring to a boil. Add rice and cloves, sti, boil until the water is absorbed. Lower heat, stir rice and place the whole Scotch bonnet pepper, thyme and parsley on top of rice. Cover and let cook for 30 minutes. Remove hot pepper, thyme and parsley. Stir before serving.