Cookbook:Frijoles Antioqueños (Colombian Bean Stew)

| Colombia | Cereal Grain | Legumes

Antioqueño beans is an icon of Colombian food.

Ingredients

 * 1 lb red or Cargamanto beans
 * 2 red tomatoes
 * 1 cup chopped scallions
 * ¼ cup oil
 * 2 tbsp cumin
 * 1 tbsp allspice
 * 6 cups water
 * 1 chicken broth cube
 * 1 large plantain
 * ½ lb flank steak, pork legs, or pork rinds (optional)

Procedure

 * 1) Wash beans and let hydrate overnight by covering with twice its volume of water.
 * 2) The next day, remove any floating beans.
 * 3) Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add scallions and let fry until they start to brown. Add tomato, cumin, broth cube, and allspice. This is called "hogao", a basic sauce for many Colombian dishes.
 * 4) Add 6 cups water, the beans, and plantain. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
 * 5) Cover the pressure cooker, and let cook for 30 minutes.
 * 6) Let cool, then open the pressure cooker.
 * 7) Check water level, add the meat if using, and cover again. Cook for another 30 minutes.
 * 8) Taste for salt. If you want a thicker mixture, you can cook uncovered over low heat.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * When serving, you can put additional hogao on top.
 * You can serve with white rice, avocado, ground beef, roasted beef, fried plantain, roasted chicken, corn arepas, and many other combinations.
 * Trasnochado beans, eaten one day after being cooked, are a great option to eat the beans with a delicious concentrated flavor.
 * To make bandeja paisa, serve a portion of Antioqueño beans, a portion of white rice, a portion of ground beef, a slice of avocado, one fried chorizo sausage, fried ripe plantain, one fried blood sausage, pork rind, and one fried egg on top of the rice.
 * Another delicious way to serve these beans is with cazuelitas: serve half of a cazuelita with the beans, and add to it corn, shredded beef (ropa vieja), avocado, and ground pork rind.