This is one of my most favorite rice and bean dishes in the whole world and the thought or mention of these is to make my salivate very much. I used to make this a lot when my daughters were small. During this time I was pretty much expermenting with the flavors and I always ended up getting it right. I usually made this a lot back then because times where very tight and I had to feed my children and myself.
On top of this paring this with fried plantain was definately a must. Also drinking a non alcoholic malt beverage went even better and is even more perfect.
- Halal Pasteles With Arroz Gandoules The recipe is here for sofrito. Don’t worry it is for either one or two uses. This is optional.
- 1/2 packet to 1 packet of sazon This is optional also.
- 1 pinch each in mortar and pestle of black peppercorns, cumin seeds ground in to a coarse powder
- 1 pinch each of basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjarom
- Either 3 pinches of pink salt or vegtea seasoning, 1 bullion cube, 3 dashes of seasoned salt, Goya sazonador or adobo.
- 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma
- 1 lb or 1 kg of either chicken, beef, turkey, veal, lamb or goat
- 1 cup of black beans sorted and washed
- 1 cup of rice of any type washed
- 1 liter or 1 quart of water
- 1/4 cup of oil of olive, corn, canola, vegtable, sunflower, safflower, peanut or grapeseed
- 1 onion or shallot in half moon slices
- 6 cloves of garlic chopped
The rest of this even though they are both pressure cooker methods. It is the classic stovetop cooker or the instant pot multi functional cooker using the saute and pressure cook functions.
For stovetop pressure cooker just add the oil, onions or shallot and cook on high heat until brown, add garlic, contents of mortar and pestle, the rest of the herbs and stir. Add the sofrito and sazon only as you wish because these two are the only optional ingredents the rest of them are completely manditory. Add your choice of your other seasoning ingredents such as adobo or others if you choose.
Now add the protien of choice or not add it is up to you then add the black beans themselves. You can add meat if you want to or leave the meat out which is just as good. Add water then place the lid on the pressure cooker and wait for the button to pop up and cook for 25 minutes then turn off heat and this will allow the pressure to escape.
When the pressure is gone and the button has been lowered, check the bean, If still a little hard then check water levels and add 2 more cups of water then repeat the process again. Here you have two options that you can transfer the beans to a regular stovetop vessel like a coldero. Wait until the rice boils on high heat then lower the heat to low for 20 minutes or until rice has absorbed the water or add the rice after washing to a pressure cooker and making sure the water level goes over the beans and rice. Turn heat back on to high and once more wait until you see the button pop up and let cook for 10 minutes.
Turn heat off and let the pressure subside and open the cooker after the button lowers. It may look kind of soupy and turn heat on to high for it to reduce with the cooker itself uncovered.
For instant pot select sauté and add oil like you would in stovetop method and brown the onion or shallot add the other ingredients following the method from stovetop method which all rules apply. After you add the other stuff like the seasonings and the meat then fry that a little then select cancel and add pressure cook on high add water and black beans then stir and use the pressure cooking lid and close the cooker and select 20 minutes and tap the on button now you can relax until the cooker beeps. Press the quick release button. Check to see if beans are soft then repeat the steps again this time for 10 minutes.
Press quick release again and let the pressure release itself. Open the lid and add the rice and place the pressure cooker lid once more and again 10 minutes. Press quick release button again and check the food in the cooker. there was some liquid in the rice and beans and I tapped again sauté button this time to reduce. For this I placed a glass lid over the cooker. This would take 20 mintutes. This turned out to be spectacular. I also want to stress my original recipe for this dish didn’t contain sofrito but I used it this time when I made it as an edition so it is totaly up to you to put in to your own pot of this yummy black beans and rice.
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