Black Beans and Rice

Moros y Cristianos

½ cup extra virgin Spanish olive oil
½ cup chopped green onion (scallions)
½ cup chopped white onion
¼ cup chopped green bell pepper
1 oz. chorizo (try to find some imported from Spain; it’s a hot sausage), chopped.
8 garlic cloves (yes, that’s EIGHT)
1 2 oz. jar red pimientos, drained and chopped
2 15.5 cans of black beans (Goya beans are good), well rinsed
4 cups chicken stock or defatted chicken broth
3 cups long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon or so chopped cilantro : use less if it’s dehydrated. I chose not to buy a bunch of it, since it was cheaper to buy a nice ounce or so in a package, bright green – from Canada!
More olive oil (don’t exceed about another 2 tablespoons; I just guessed)
Salt to taste, about 1 teaspoon

Heat a large (at least three quart) pot or sauté pan. Don’t use a Teflon coated pan; who wants to eat more fluorine? Made right, this does NOT stick. Put in the olive oil (to save some calories, 1/3 cup will do, most likely) and add the chopped vegetables and the chorizo. Push the garlic cloves through a garlic press into the sofrito as you cook it. Yes, the oil and the veggies are the sofrito. The vegetables should get soft and the chorizo should render its fat; this will take about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the black beans, mix well. Add the stock and bring to a boil, then add the rice, the oregano, and the cumin. It will smell fantastic now! Cover the pan with a sheet of waxed paper, and then a paper towel on top of that; put the lid on, reduce heat to low and let it cook for 25 to 30 minutes. The rice should be tender, but still moist.

Transfer it all to a serving dish, fluffing up the rice and distributing the beans evenly – they will have mostly stayed on the top; then sprinkle with the cilantro and some salt to taste, then drizzle with a little olive oil.

Adding the chorizo for a little extra kick! and the taste one gets only from animal protein was my idea; it is clearly optional, and without it, this would be a fine (complete protein) dish, and, incidentally, not very expensive.

Bon appetit.

This Pass-Along Recipe is from Nancy Torok.
She says: Serves 6 to 8 Cubans, or about a dozen non-Hispanics.
Its Spanish name is not exactly Politically Correct, but it is imaginative.
This is my version of Joyce La Frey’s recipe in her book “¡Cuba Cocina!”