Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (108 page)
SERVES 6
Garnish the dish with a spoonful of sour cream, a sprinkling of minced red onion, and a dash or two of hot sauce.
BEANS
12 | cups water |
1 | pound dried black beans (2¹⁄ |
1 | smoked ham hock, rinsed |
1 | green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and quartered |
1 | onion, chopped fine |
6 | garlic cloves, minced |
2 | bay leaves |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons salt |
SOFRITO
8 | slices bacon, cut into ¹⁄ |
1 | onion, chopped fine
|
1 | red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and minced |
8 | garlic cloves, minced |
2 | teaspoons dried oregano |
Salt and pepper | |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons ground cumin |
2 | teaspoons balsamic vinegar |
¹⁄ | cup minced fresh cilantro, minced |
1 | recipe |
1. FOR THE BEANS:
Bring all ingredients to boil over medium-high heat in Dutch oven, skimming foam as necessary. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, adding more water if cooking liquid reduces to level of beans, until tender but not splitting, about 2 hours. Remove ham hock. When cool enough to handle, remove ham from bone, discard bone and skin, and cut meat into bite-size pieces; set aside.
2. FOR THE SOFRITO:
Meanwhile, cook bacon in 10-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate; set aside. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, oregano, and ³⁄
4
teaspoon salt to fat left in pan and cook until vegetables have softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3.
Add 1 cup beans and 2 cups bean cooking liquid into pan with sofrito and mash beans with potato masher or fork until smooth. Simmer over medium heat until liquid is reduced and thickened, about 6 minutes. Transfer sofrito mixture and reserved ham and bacon to pot and simmer until beans are creamy and liquid thickens to sauce consistency, 15 to 20 minutes. Add vinegar and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in cilantro, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve over rice.
Omit bacon and substitute 2 tablespoons olive oil for bacon fat in step 2. Substitute 1 small green bell pepper for red bell pepper in sofrito. Add 1 teaspoon ground coriander to sofrito along with cumin, substitute 1 tablespoon dry sherry for balsamic vinegar, and omit cilantro.
STORING DRIED BEANS
When shopping for beans, it is imperative to select “fresh” dried beans. Buy those that are uniform in size and have a smooth exterior. When dried beans are fully hydrated and cooked, they should be plump with a taut skin and have creamy insides; spent beans will have wrinkled skins and a dry, almost gritty texture. Uncooked beans should be stored in a cool, dry place in a sealed plastic or glass container. Though dried beans can be stored for up to one year, it is best to use them within a month or two of purchase.
W
HY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Beans and rice is a familiar combination the world over, but Cuban black beans and rice is unique in that the rice is cooked in the inky concentrated liquid left over from cooking the beans, which renders the grains just as flavorful. For our own superlative version, we reserved a portion of the sofrito (the traditional combination of garlic, bell pepper, and onion) and simmered it with our beans to infuse them with flavor. Instead of just draining off and throwing away the flavorful bean cooking liquid, we used it again to cook our rice and beans together.
Lightly browning the remaining sofrito vegetables and spices with rendered salt pork added complex, meaty flavor, and baking the dish in the oven eliminated the crusty bottom that can form when the dish is cooked on the stove.
SERVES 6 TO 8
It is important to use lean—not fatty—salt pork. If you can’t find it, substitute 6 slices of bacon. If using bacon, decrease the cooking time in step 4 to 8 minutes. You will need a Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe.
Salt | |
1 | cup dried black beans, picked over and rinsed |
2 | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
2 | cups water |
2 | large green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and halved |
1 | large onion, halved at equator and peeled, root end left intact |
1 | head garlic, 5 cloves minced, rest of head halved at equator with skin left intact |
2 | bay leaves |
1¹⁄ | cups long-grain white rice |
2 | tablespoons olive oil |
6 | ounces lean salt pork, cut into ¹⁄ |
4 | teaspoons ground cumin |
1 | tablespoon minced fresh oregano |
2 | tablespoons red wine vinegar |
2 | scallions, sliced thin |
Lime wedges |
1.
Dissolve 1¹⁄
2
tablespoons salt in 2 quarts cold water in large bowl or container. Add beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.
2.
In Dutch oven, stir together drained beans, broth, water, 1 pepper half, 1 onion half (with root end), halved garlic head, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until beans are just soft, 30 to 35 minutes. Using tongs, remove and discard pepper, onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Drain beans in colander set over large bowl, reserving 2¹⁄
2
cups bean cooking liquid. (If you don’t have enough bean cooking liquid, add water to equal 2¹⁄
2
cups.) Do not wash out Dutch oven.
3.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place rice in large fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear, about 1¹⁄
2
minutes. Shake strainer vigorously to remove all excess water; set rice aside. Cut remaining peppers and onion into 2-inch pieces and process in food processor until broken into rough ¹⁄
4
-inch pieces, about 8 pulses, scraping down bowl as necessary; set vegetables aside.
4.
In now-empty Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon oil and salt pork over medium-low heat and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and rendered, 15 to 20 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, chopped peppers and onion, cumin, and oregano. Increase heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add rice and stir to coat, about 30 seconds.
5.
Stir in beans, reserved bean cooking liquid, vinegar, and ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Fluff with fork and let rest, uncovered, 5 minutes. Serve, passing scallions and lime wedges separately.
Substitute water for chicken broth and omit salt pork. Add 1 tablespoon tomato paste with vegetables in step 4 and increase amount of salt in step 5 to 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons.
W
HY THIS RECIPE WORKS
To create a recipe for Boston baked beans packed with multiple levels of intense flavor, yet traditional enough to make a New Englander proud, we started with a combination of salt pork and bacon and browned them in a Dutch oven before adding dried white beans. Using the oven, not the stovetop, ensured the beans cooked through gently and evenly. Cider vinegar gave our sauce tanginess while mustard and molasses boosted its flavor. We removed the lid for the last hour of cooking to reduce the sauce to a syrupy, intensified state.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Be sure to use mild molasses; dark molasses will taste too strong.
4 | ounces salt pork, rind removed, cut into ¹⁄ |
2 | slices bacon, cut into ¹⁄ |
1 | onion, chopped fine |
9 | cups water |
1 | pound dried small white beans (2¹⁄ |
¹⁄ | cup plus 1 tablespoon mild molasses |
1¹⁄ | tablespoons brown mustard |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | teaspoon cider vinegar |
1.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Cook salt pork and bacon in Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and most of fat is rendered, about 7 minutes. Add onion and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add water, beans, ¹⁄
2
cup molasses, mustard, and 1¹⁄
4
teaspoons salt, increase heat to medium-high, and bring to boil. Cover pot and transfer to oven. Bake until beans are tender, about 4 hours, stirring halfway through cooking.
2.
Carefully remove lid and continue to bake until liquid has thickened to syrupy consistency, 1 to 1¹⁄
2
hours longer. Remove beans from oven. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon molasses and vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (The baked beans can be cooled and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.)
W
HY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Red beans and rice is a Monday night tradition in New Orleans, but some of its key ingredients are nearly impossible to find outside Louisiana. Plus, many recipes are plagued by blown-out beans, bland or pasty sauces, and flavors that never quite come together. We wanted a smoky, spicy, creamy stew that stayed true to its Cajun roots. To replicate this recipe using ingredients easily found in our neighborhood supermarket, we made some simple substitutions: small red beans for the traditional local dried red beans, bacon for hard-to-find tasso, and vinegar for pickled pork shoulder (not a direct substitution, but it provided ample tang). Soaking the beans overnight in a saltwater brine made their texture even better and seasoned them all the way through. Fine-tuning the proportions of sautéed green peppers, onions, and celery gave the dish balance, and the right ratio of chicken broth to water added complexity without giving the dish an overpowering chicken flavor.
