Like Father, Like Son

It’s that time of year, when we set our clocks back, and gain that extra precious hour. Most people, myself included, typically relish the extra hour of sleep this can provide. This year, however, I woke up promptly at 5:30 (what would have been 6:30 yesterday) and thought about how this could also actually give me an extra hour to get things done today. I’m always saying there are never enough hours in a day. Besides Mr. N and Mike were already up and at ’em. They are the early risers. And they do not move very gingerly about the house. 😉

Well, when we left off it was Halloween and we had some crazy good French toast. We also had a crazy good Halloween!

We hope you did as well. I think the kids are still on a sugar high!

It was also an active week on the blog thanks to Freshly Pressed (many thanks!) and a delicious sandwich named in my honor (thank you Charles!). So we’d like to welcome our new followers as we get back to our Cuban cooking adventures. As many of you may recall, my best friend Sue challenged us to make a gluten-free, soy free, red meat free, dairy free and corn free meal. Our cuban garlic chicken fit the bill for the main course, but we needed a good side dish as well. And let’s face it, it wouldn’t be a tour of Cuba without Frijoles Negros.

Like many traditional dishes, there are endless ways to prepare black beans, but after a bit of research we settled on the recipe at Three Guys in Miami. We started by soaking the black beans overnight, rinsing them, then cooking them in 9 cups of water with a bit of olive oil for about an hour. Once the beans were softened, Miss A mashed some garlic, salt and pepper.

We added the garlic to our sautéed onions and green peppers which were then tossed in with the black beans and water.

At this point we also added the remaining ingredients to the saucepan including oregano, cumin, a bay leaf, vinegar and some Spanish wine. The beans and seasonings cooked over low heat for another 15 to 20 minutes. Next we removed about a cup of black beans and pureed them to create a paste which we then tossed back into the pot.

Finally, we seasoned the beans with salt, pepper, a bit of sugar and a drizzle of olive oil. The beans were then covered and set aside for 10 minutes before we served them over rice.

We topped ours, as was recommended, with a bit of chopped white onion and cilantro. It made for a beautiful, and bountiful, side dish.

We had leftovers for a week! Fortunately, we enjoyed the beans, so that was a good thing. I very much enjoyed the frijoles negros. Black beans have definitely grown on me these past few years of blogging. This was a 3 spoon dish for me. Mike too. He particularly enjoyed the leftovers in pitas.

Mr. N and Miss A are both black bean lovers, so we weren’t surprised that they too gave the dish 3 spoons. Miss A, however, is not a fan of rice and preferred to just pick out the beans. And like his dad, Mr. N enjoyed these beans for lunch in a pita.

I don’t think it’s often that we come in with the same vote from all four of us, which means this will be a recipe that sticks around a while. It was the perfect way to end our Cuban cooking adventures – our delicious Cuban adventures.

So where to next? Well, we promised to reveal our recent travels, a tasty dish from that Northerly destination and then we have a seasonal family recipe to share before heading off to our next international destination. That by the way, has been chosen by Mr. N…the werewolf.

He’s going to take us to Chile! I think they might know a thing or two about cowboys down there.

Yes, and cowgirls Miss A!

Print this recipe: Cuban Fijoles Negros

40 thoughts on “Like Father, Like Son”

  1. helene dsouza says:
    Reply

    Your daughter Kristy looks soo cute in her pink boots, nice picture. =) Your son kind of reminds me of my brother. my brother would run always (the whole year!) with a mask on his head and he still does it with his 16 years… freak. ^.^

    Love the beans with coriander. I think these 2 ingredients are a must together!

    Like

  2. Mary says:
    Reply

    looks like the troops had a great Halloween! love the rice and beans – they will go down well in my house! thanks for you support and encouragement over Sandy – it meant a lot in my moment of need!
    Mary x

    Like

  3. Geni - Sweet and Crumby says:
    Reply

    I certainly appreciate the bling that Miss A. had on her cowgirl costume and Mr. N’s werewolf was very scary! Thank goodness the black beans were not scary. They look yummy and would go with so many dishes. Glad your Halloween was wonderful Kristi! And Congrats on the Freshly Pressed! Yippeee!

    Like

  4. Smart Food and Fit (@LisaNutrition) says:
    Reply

    Mr. N makes a great werewolf! My boys are all about super hero’s the last couple of years. My three year old made about four costume changes and finally settled on his original costume, Captain America! lol Miss A is so darn cute, makes me want to try for a girl! J/K, I’m crazy busy with my three boys!

    Oh, congrats on the Freshly Pressed pick of the month! 🙂

    Like

  6. spicegirlfla says:
    Reply

    Miss A is just the darling of cowgirls…and that little smile says she just knows she is!! How fun they both looked and I bet it was a really exciting Halloween for them. Since we left Florida, my son has been begging me for black beans. I really didn’t make them as he’d get them at friends home or out to eat. I tried one recipe and he wasn’t sold on it, so I’ll have to try this one out of him. He’ll be eating beans for weeks!!

    Like

  7. Karen says:
    Reply

    Looks like the little ones must have had a great Halloween. I make black beans often….too many years of living in Miami not too. Yours sound very authentic.

    Like

  8. Kate@Diethood says:
    Reply

    Your kids are gorgeous!! Ana was also a cowgirl this Halloween…so stinkin’ cute!!
    That side dish looks so good… I have a few bean lovers around here that would not mind a serving, or two 😉

    Like

  9. Nami | Just One Cookbook says:
    Reply

    Awww your children are so adorable! I have same/similar age kids and I could totally relate on what they are doing/thinking etc. I love Miss A’s facial expression and pink boots. Girls are so fun to dress up (my son was spiderman… errr). Love your dish too!!

    Like

  10. Three Well Beings says:
    Reply

    I really enjoy black beans and this sounds so good to me. I do think Jay and I could live on beans. Isn’t it nice to really enjoy something so economical! I liked our trip with you to Cuba, Kristy, and will look forward to Chile! I have a feeling it is a cuisine I will really like, too. Miss A is so cute in her costume, and that werewolf! Whoa! Great mask! I am sure both children had a very good time.

    Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed! Which post won the honors? 🙂

    Like

  13. Bam's Kitchen says:
    Reply

    Congratulations on fresh pressed! I am sure your son had a great time terrorizing your sweet little cowgirl in his werwolf outfit. Your bean dish looks so delicious, a great hearty vegetarian side dish option.

    Like

  14. Charles says:
    Reply

    I’m very impressed that your kiddos like beans – I couldn’t stand the things when I was their age. No bean of any size or type and yet how strange it is because now they’re one of my favourite foods! I’d happily eat them every day if I had to!

    This looks amazing – and having the beans for lunch in a pita sounds like one awesome meal too. Can’t wait to see your Chile adventures – “you’re not gonna get chilly when you have a bowl of chili in Chile”… hurrr, that’s my attempt at humour :p

    Love the photos – so cute 🙂

    Like

    • Kristy says:
      Reply

      I’m with you Charles. I just started to like beans in the last few years. The kids actually liked them before I did.

      Chile today, hot tamale! I’d say that’s my attempt at humor, but I stole that from my dad. 😉

      Like

  15. Kelly @ Inspired Edibles says:
    Reply

    Loved reading this post Kristy! And I have to say that is one of the prettiest looking bean dishes I’ve ever seen – I love the addition of fresh chopped onion on top – that’s so neat; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before – we have a father and son team over here who adore raw onion! I tell you between your dashing werewolf and the look and body language on Miss A in that last photo… be afraid mom, be very afraid ;-).

    Like

  18. Eva Taylor says:
    Reply

    I’ve been searching for a Cuban black bean recipe but none have hit it for me; I’m pretty sure this one will do the trick because we’re usually on the same page. The kids’ costumes look amazing, glad it went well.
    Our friends in Illinois weren’t affected by Sandy but they did mention that Lake Michigan had swells of 8-10 feet!

    Like

  21. Sawsan@ Chef in disguise says:
    Reply

    The kids customs are brilliant!
    Miss A’s pose in that last picture put a big smile on my face, she is growing up so fast.
    My kids love beans too and I think they will really enjoy this recipe.
    They decided not to change to winter time here and it is so weird trying to adjust to summer time in the fall

    Like

  22. Profiteroles & Ponytails says:
    Reply

    I’m always at a loss when it comes to side dishes, so this is a great one to tuck away. Congrats on being freshly pressed Kristy — looks like it has been quite a week for you! Hope you made good use of the extra hour. Sadly, I didn’t do anything very productive with it!

    Like

  25. sallybr says:
    Reply

    I am with Greg, that beast scared the daylight ouf ot me! Glad the photo of the howling beast didn’t come with a soundtrack! 🙂

    great costumes, great post, the black beans over rice made me homesick… but it’s ok, I will get over it

    (like you, I used the extra hour to do more stuff, and I don’t even have young kids to blame – sigh, sigh, sigh)

    Like

  29. A_Boleyn says:
    Reply

    I would have loved to see Miss A going the scary route but she made a very lovey cowgirl. And Mr N’s werewolf was appropriately terrifying. 🙂

    I enjoyed the peek into Cuban dishes. I’m not too familiar with the cuisine from that area. I bet the rice and beans were very filling even if Miss A is not too fond of the rice. I’m curious why … is it the texture (too mushy, too firm) or the flavour (very little or a too spicy/salty)?

    I’m pairing sushi rice with Spam in my next couple of posts and visiting Hawaii for my inspiration. I thought of your posts and did a quick check to see if you had made the dish(es) in your own coverage of the state. Whew… nope.

    Like

  31. ChgoJohn says:
    Reply

    Excellent costumes! Mr N makes a terrifing werewolf! Yikes! And Miss A is about the cutest cowgirl I’ve ever seen!
    This beans & rice dish sounds delicious and using a cup of the beans to make a paste is such a great idea. I need to make this dish, Kristy, and buy some pita, too..

    Like

Thank you for commenting!