Soak: 4 c black beans in 12 cups water Simmer 2-3 hours with: 4 large whole onions 6 whole carrots 6 whole stalks of celery 1/2 head of garlic, whole cloves peeled 2 heaping tablespoons of cumin 1 heaping tablespoon of chili powder Lots of ground black pepper When the beans are nice and soft, add: A heaping tablespoon of salt Then, fish the the (soft) cooked veggies out into a bowl and purée them in a food processor. Stir this smooth mixture back into the soup. This way the soup has all your protein and veggies for a meal in one bowl. Add cayenne if you like it spicier. Serve with slices of polenta, fried in olive oil and butter.
Cuban Black Beans and Rice - Frijoles Negros e Arroz 2 # Black Turtle Beans - sorted and rinsed 2 stalks celery chopped 4 strips bacon (raw) sliced into 1/2" pieces 1 large yellow onion - chopped 12 cloves of garlic - chopped 2 red bell peppers - seeded and chopped Optional - Fresh cilantro for ganish 4 cups cooked white rice Place all ingredients (except rice - rice should be cooked seperately) in a large steel pot. Cover with water so the water level is 4" above the beans. Bring to boil over medium heat, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 2 hours. Uncover, simmer about 1 hour more, adding water as needed to keep the beans from getting too thick. Once the beans are soft enough to mash with the back of a spoon, serve over hot rice, using a slotted spoon to strain a majority of the bean water out. If you like your black beans more like a soup, serve with more of the bean water over rice, to the consistency you like. Salt to taste (in my case rather heavily). Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro leaves, if desired. Adding salt during the cooking makes the beans tough. Serve with steamed corn tortillas (We use a frying pan "splatter screen" placed over a pot of boiling water to steam the tortillas and slide them on a plate covered with foil to keep warm and moist) and fried ripe plantains - ripe plantains are black skinned, and relatively soft. They are sweet and when sliced on a bias and fried they are sweet and warm, and are also great served cold. Family members have been known to pile beans, rice, and plantains into their buttered tortillas and eat them like bean tacos/burritos). Others just use the tortillas as sopping and pushing implements. I am in the "taco/burrito" camp. The left over beans can be made into re-fried black beans that my family traditionally serves with fried eggs and bacon.