Frijoles de Olla {Terracotta Pot Brothy Beans}

I'm really excited because I found a terracotta pot that I was looking for. I bought it and baked Frijoles de Olla. I also bought a dish!!!! Anyways, you can look for one here in Amazon. These kind of pot and dishes usually give food a twist, a different flavor than if you use a pressure cooker or a SS cooker. 

When you buy a new one, you have to "treat" it. There are many different versions of how to do this, some say to spread garlic around (in and out) and leave it overnight, then boil water in it. Others say to spread lard and do the same. Others say to use white vinegar or white wine and boil. I asked grandma how she did her terracotta pots and dishes some decades ago and she said to fill them with water, leave them to boil and when water is around half the pot, remove from fire, leave it overnight and the next morning just throw the water away. And so I did. This will helpthe terracotta pores to close and also prevent to have terracotta flavor in the food.

Here's another important considerations:

• You should always use wooden spoons. Never metal or plastic.
• You should always use medium or low heat. Never high.

Oh, and another thing I noticed: the water will be boiling (over 100°C) BUT you won't see any movement in the water. When you boil water in any kind of pot, you see a lot of bubbling on the top, etc. Here, the most you will see is very pretty small, really small bubbles in the bottom.

Well, here's my recipe for the beans.

You will need:

• 1 lb beans (any kind will do, I used peruanos, I recommend pintos)
• 2-3 jalapeño peppers (I used 2, cuaresmeños, which are less spicy than jalapeño or serrano)
• 1 onion
• 1 large tomato (or 4 small ones)
• 8-10 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch cilantro
• water
• 2 tbsp lard (pork)

You will need to clean the beans. Spread them on your kitchen table and clean them. Search for tiny stones or rocks that could harm your teeth.

Look at that. There is a big rock in the beans!

Remove it! Remove any rocks!

Now, rinse the beans so you will remove all the dust and sand that they may have.

Now, place them in a bowl and top them with water (around 2-3 inches above beans).

Leave them overnight. This way, it will be faster to cook them. If you don't leave them overnight in water, they will take around 1-2 hours extra to cook. And that's gas/electricity waste, don't you think? Now, look at how they look the next morning. They absorved all the water.

Sometimes, they won't grab all the water. I recommend to drain them and rinse them again. Why? This water will be full of starch from the beans and the starch will cause a lot of flatulences after eating the beans. Some people use the same water. It's fine too. This water will add some flavor and color to your beans. It's up to you! you can give it a try both ways. Now, place the beans in the pot and fill with water. Water must be at least 2-3 fingers covering the beans.

Place on low heat with 1/2 onion, 6 garlic cloves, 1-2 jalapeño peppers (or serrano or cuaresmeño). The vegetables should be drowned in the water. If you are missing water, add more. Stir occasionally, so they won't stick of burn. I mean, once or twice.

Ok, you can't see what in there but trust me, it's water, beans and veggies.

Cook in medium/low heat for 2 hours and remove onion, garlic and chiles/peppers.

Beans should be tender. Try to eat one and when they are tender, add 1 tbsp lard and stir until dissolved. Leave in low heat and let's prepare a paste.

In a skillet, melt 1 tbsp lard and fry finely chopped onion. Add 1/2 tbsp salt.

After 3-4 minutes, add 2 garlic cloves finely chopped.

After 2 minutes, add 1 tomato finely chopped.

Fry for 3 minutes and add 2-3 tbsp cooked beans and 6-8 tbsp beans liquid. Stir and place in a blender.

Mix until a paste is formed and add it to the beans pot.

Stir until well blended and add cilantro. Cook for another 10 minutes. Carefully stir, trying not to break the  cilantro branch because you will be removing it in 10 minutes. Try them and check for salt. If there's any missing, add 1/2 tbsp and try again. Repeat until it tastes like you want.

After 10 minutes, remove from heat and enjoy!

February 24, 2012:

 Attending Michelle's Fabulous Friday Linky Party 20