Just Regular Ole Black Beans and Rice

Regular Ole Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry black beans
• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 teaspoons garlic
• 1 jalapeño pepper, diced
• 1 cup tomatoes, diced
• OR, instead of the jalapeño and tomatoes, a can of Rotel chiles and tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or Chinese Five Spice)
• 2 cups beef stock
• OR water only and one package of dry onion soup mix
• salt and pepper to taste
• Rice, any old way you wanna cook it.

Preparation

Start this one the night before. (You can move that to morning and do step 4 all day) Black beans just take more prep than pintos. Go ahead and don’t do it this way. You can always load your 00 shells with the resultant rocks.

1. Wash and sort the beans. I usually do this with a large pot and a sieve. Beans in sieve, water in pot. Running water over beans. You can work out the mechanics.
2. Put the 2C beans in at least 4C water and bring to a boil.
3. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for at least one hour.
4. After soaking in the hot water for an hour, pour off the water and add more, fresh water to cover the beans (about 2″-3″ over the beans).
5. NOW let ’em soak overnight. The next day, they’re ready to cook. NO SALT WHILE THEY’RE COOKING at first. Save that for the LAST step.
6. Pour off the water again, add the beef stock and enough water to cover (again, by about 2″3″. Then, bring the beans to a boil and back the heat off to simmer. Cover. Let ’em simmer about an hour or until you can remove a bean and make the skin curl off by blowing on it or it just tastes/feels done to you. Meanwhile, while the beans are simmering, assemblle the rest. Dice the onions, garlic and jalapeño, then lightly saute them in the olive oil. Chop the tomatoes, etc.
7. Now that the beans are done, add all the other stuff and let it come together at a simmer for at least 20 minutes… while your rice is finishing up.

Serve scoops of the beans over rice.