The Foodiator

It’s ASK ME time!

This week’s question comes from Keren, Beverly Hills, CA: “How do I not Burn, Dry, Break the black beans? I’m Trying to make a Brazilian black beans with rice. Please help!”

Dear Keren, cooking any FRESH bean usually requires

more patience and time, but it shouldn’t be at all

frustrating. I tried to break it down for you as

simple as possible;

1. First of all, you should gently go through your

dried beans and discard any “foreign objects” that

are usually found in fresh beans and grains.

Additionally, discard any broken beans you find -

If it’s broken before it’s even cooked, you can be

sure it’s going to break into smaller pieces when

it is cooked.

2. Place your beans in a bowl, cover with water and

soak for at least 3 hours, but preferably over

night. 

3.Discard the water. Then add beans to a pot and add water by double the amount of the beans- Meaning: if you have 3 cups of beans, add 6 cups of water. That way you ensure your beans won’t burn and the water won’t evaporate quickly. And bring to a boil.

4. Lower to medium heat, cover and cook until beans are *soft- should take about an hour and a half. Save one ladle of the liquid and discard the rest.

*You can check whether your beans are soft by tasting one or trying to squeeze one bean between two fingers. The beans should be soft but not “mushy”.

5. In a large saucepan saute half of a diced white onion with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the beans, ladle of liquid, salt, pepper and bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower heat to medium-high and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

Even more tips: 

- Add two cloves of garlic to the pot. By the time the beans are soft they absorb a lot of garlici goodness.

- Add 1 teaspoon of dried tarragon and 1 teaspoon of dried basil to your       saucepan- adds an awesome aroma and flavor.

- While the beans cook you will notice a few will start breaking- don’t panic! Take the broken ones, process them with some of the cooking liquid in a food processor then add the mixture to your saucepan- This will thicken the beans “sauce”- and that’s a good thing!

 

Now all you have to do is add the beans to your rice!

 

Good Luck!!

 

The Foodiator.