Emilio Estefan

Estefan’s Black Beans (Frijoles Negros)

Few things are as truly Cuban as black beans. The Taino native who lived in Cuba cultivated and ate black beans long before Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic and “discovered” them. But it took Spanish and African influences to turn black beans into the traditional Cuban dish we know as frijoles negros today. We like our beans nice and tender, and unlike the way the island natives made them, we add dry cooking wine to give them a distinctive flavor.

What gives Cuban black beans their unique taste, though, is the sofrito, a sautéed blend of onions, garlic and green pepper. No Cuban meal is complete without a side of black beans.

Read Related: Grilled Mojo Pork Chops

ESTEFAN’S BLACK BEANS
Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients
1 lb black beans
10 cups water
1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded and halved
5 cloves of garlic, 4 of them crushed (using a garlic press or mortar and pestle)
2/3 cup olive oil
1 bay leaf
¾ TSP oregano
Salt to taste
Cumin powder to taste (optional)
½ cup dry white wine (optional)

Instructions

Rinse the beans thoroughly and remove any debris. Place the rinsed beans in a large covered pot of Dutch oven. Add the water, cover, and let sit overnight or for at least 6 hours.
Set stove on medium high and bring the beans to a boil. Add one of the green pepper halves, one of the onions halves, and a garlic clove. Cover, and reduce heat to low, and cook for 45 to 60 minutes or until the beans become tender.
Meanwhile, finely chop the remaining halves of the green pepper and onions to be used in the sofrito that will be added to the beans for flavoring. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat until fragrant. Then add the chopped onions and crushed garlic, and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the chopped green pepper and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat.
Once the beans are tender (see step 2), fold the bean-sofrito mixture into the rest of the beans, and add the bay leaf, oregano, salt, cumin powder (if desired), and vino seco. Cover and allow the beans to simmer for another 30 to 45 minutes. If desired, stir in the vinegar during the last 10 to 15 minutes. (If you prefer “thicker” beans, uncover the beans during the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking, but stay close and keep an eye on them so as not to end up with black bean cake!)
Remove the discard the bay leaf. Serve the beans piping hot over rice.

This recipe was first published in Estefan Kitchen (Celebra) and is available for puchase here.

Estefan’s Boliche (Cuban Pot Roast)

When I was growing up, my mother had a weekly menu, of sorts. Every Sunday, she made arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). On Saturdays, we ate boliche. And boy, did I look forward to Saturdays. Boliche is a Cuban pot roast, seasoned with naranja agria, oregano, and garlic, then cooked slowly with white wine, chicken broth, and onions, until the meat is so tender it practically melts in your mouth. That’s the way we cook most meats in Cuba, slowly, so that they’re falling off the bone by the time that we serve them. But cooking the boliche slowly allows the meat to soak up the garlic and wine.

Like with ropa vieja and carne con papas, some people like to just serve the boliche over white rice so that the sauce and rice mix. Or you might want to have some Cuban bread on hand so you can soak up the sauce with it while you eat the meat.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

8 cloves garlic, crushed (using a garlic press or mortar and pestle)

1 cup naranja agria (sour orange) juice

1 tsp. dried oregano 5 lb eye round

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large white onions, sliced

1 cup vino seco or dry white wine

3 ba leaves

2 ½ cups chicken broth

Instructions:

Make the marinade by combining the garlic, naranja agria (you can substitute the naranja agria with 2 parts lemon juice to 1 part orange juice), and oregano in a mixing bowl. Piece the eye round with a fork, then place in a deep bowl, add marinade and refrigerate overnight.
When you are ready to cook, remove the meat from baking dish and reserve the marinade. In a large pot of Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat so it is hot enough to sear the meat. Then add the roast and brown on all sides, being careful not to scotch it.
Remove the meat and set aside. Ad the onions and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add the reserved marinade and allow to simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Add the vino seco, bay leaves, chicken broth and meat. Then reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pot, leaving the lid slightly ajar.
Simmer the ingredients for approximately 75 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and slice against the grain into 1/2 –inch thick slices, then place the sliced meat back into the pot and simmer over low heat for another 60 to 90 minutes or until the meat is tender.
When meat is sufficiently tender, remove it from the pot and reserve the cooking juices. Working in batches, take about 1 cup of the cooked onions, and pan juices at a time and pass through the sieve into a bowl to make a serving sauce.
Top off each serving of boliche slices with some of the serving sauce and serve with white rice and black beans and plantains or platanos maduras on the side.

This recipe was originally published in Estefan’s Kitchen by Emilio and Gloria Estefan (Celebra) and is available for purchase HERE.