Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Cuban Inspired Black Beans and Rice

Soak Time: 8-24 hours
Prep Time: 13 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Prep Time: 27 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Grade: B-
Make Again: No
Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (March 2011)

I was sure I'd love this recipe, but it fell a little flat with me. I think the cumin taste overpowered everything else. It calls for 4 teaspoons of cumin, and I think half of that would have worked better.

It wasn't bad, but not something I think was worth the effort. This past winter when I had no time to cook at all, I discovered a quick beans and rice meal. (Boil in the bag Brown Rice, plus canned black beans, plus some salsa with a little bit of cheese on top.) That takes about 3-4 minutes of effort and 12 minutes of cooking time, and was almost as satisfying as this dish.

This dish isn't hard to make, but you do have to soak the beans and cook in stages, so there is some effort involved.

I should add that I used bacon instead of salt port. I used 2 thick slices instead of the 6 regular they suggested. Maybe more bacon or salt port would have tempered the cumin.

I will say the beans after cooking initially were very good, but the final recipe was were things fell flat.

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