Blades's Black Beans
Updated Jan. 30, 2023
- Total Time
- 4 hours, plus overnight soak
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound dried black beans, washed and picked over
- 6cups chicken stock, approximately
- 4tablespoons olive oil
- 1cup minced yellow onion
- 1plum tomato, chopped
- ½cup minced green bell pepper
- ¼cup chopped cilantro
- 1tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1tablespoon sugar
- 2teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1½teaspoons dried oregano
- ⅛teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
- 1clove garlic, minced
- ¼pound baked ham, cut into ½-inch pieces
- Salt to taste
- Sour cream and cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Drain.
- Step 2
Place the beans in a large, heavy pot, cover with water and simmer for four hours, adding some stock to cover the beans as the liquid is reduced.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until golden, then add the remaining ingredients except the ham, salt and garnishes. Simmer for three minutes, stirring.
- Step 4
Stir the ham and the contents of the skillet into the beans. Simmer, covered, for two hours, stirring and adding more stock to cover the beans as necessary.
- Step 5
Season with salt and serve with sour cream and sprigs of cilantro
Private Notes
Comments
This has been my go to recipe for a hearty black bean dish since it was first published. I still have the now yellowed clipping. It is simply delicious!
I’ve been cooking this recipe ever since it came out in 1991 and it’s been a mainstay of my cooking ever since. I usually cook as written but sometimes I add a meaty smoked ham hock to the broth as it’s cooking to add that extra depth. I was delighted to see the original story attached to the recipe - it’s worth a read when making this. If I had a friend like Gabriel Garcia Marquez dropping by I’d make this too....
I do this at least once a month. My husband loves it! The beans freeze beautifully in one-cup containers for a quick lunch.
You can streamline this recipe using a pressure cooker. Same ingredients, just different cooking method. Delicious, been making this for >20 years, always get asked for the recipe.
Like some others, I have been making this wonderful dish for over a decade using a yellowed and stained newspaper clipping. So happy to find it here. My husband has an aversion to cilantro so I use cumin in its place. It is a delicious dinner with a green salad.
This has been my go to recipe for a hearty black bean dish since it was first published. I still have the now yellowed clipping. It is simply delicious!
Lol I'm here now because I can't find my yellowed clipping! I do find that 6 hours of cooking is unnecessary. It's generally done at 3 and 1/2 hours.
@Ken S Ah- same here except at this point I was down to a photo of the now missing yellowed clipping!
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