Cuban Black Beans

• 1 1/2 green peppers, stemmed and seededbell-pepper
• 10 garlic clovesgarlic
• 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over to remove any stonesblack-beans
• 1 smoked ham hocksmoked-ham-hock
• 2 bay leavesbay-leaf
• 5 teaspoons salt, or to tastesalt
• 1/4 cup olive oilolive-oil
• 4 slices thick bacon, cut into 1/2-inch piecesbacon
• 1 Spanish onion, dicedonion
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oreganooregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumincumin
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepperpepper
• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegardistilled-white-vinegar
• 1 tablespoon turbinado or other brown sugarsugar

1. 01Cut 1 green pepper into 1-inch squares. Smash and peel 4 of the garlic cloves. Put the green pepper and garlic into a large pot with the beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon salt. Add 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer until the beans are tender, an hour or more.
2. 02Meanwhile, make a sofrito. Cut the remaining ½ green pepper into ¼-inch dice. Peel and finely chop the remaining garlic. Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and onion and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining garlic, jalapeño (leave out the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy), oregano, cumin, black pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and stir for another minute. Pour in the vinegar and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. This is your sofrito.
3. 03When the beans are cooked, discard the bay leaf. Remove and set aside the ham hock and let it cool. Transfer 1 cup of beans to small bowl, mash them into a paste with the back of a fork and return to the pot. Add the sofrito, then the sugar. Pull the meat from the ham hock, leaving behind any white sinew or gristle. Chop the ham into ½-inch pieces and return it to the bean pot.
4. 04Stir the beans well and bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so, skimming any foam from the top. Taste for salt and serve with white rice.

Calories

347 kcal

Protein

22 g

Fat

15 g

Saturated fat

4 g

Carbs

33 g

Fiber

8 g

Sugar

3 g

Sodium

461 mg

Cholesterol

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