Cuban-Style Black Beans & Rice

For our Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice recipe, we sautéed the aromatics in a pan in which we had crisped some diced salt pork and rendered its fat; this gave the dish a rich backbone. Including onion, green pepper, garlic, and bay leaves in the pot with the rice as it precooked bumped up the flavor. Washing off the rice’s excess starch helped prevent the grains from sticking to one another, and using an oven-based cooking technique ensured that the rice cooked evenly from top to bottom.

 

Serve this recipe as a side dish or as a main course with a simple green salad. It is important to use lean—not fatty—salt pork. If you can’t find it, substitute six slices of bacon. If using bacon, decrease the cooking time in step 4 to eight minutes. For a vegetarian version of this recipe, use water instead of chicken broth, omit the salt pork, add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste with the vegetables in step 4, and increase the amount of salt in step 5 to 1½ teaspoons. 

 

1 cup dried black beans, rinse and picked over2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 large green bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 large onion, halved at the equator and peeled, root end left intact
1 head garlic; 5 medium cloves minced, remaining head halved with skin left intact
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 ounces lean salt pork, cut into 1/4 inch dice (see note)
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 medium scallions, sliced thin
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

1. Dissolve 1½ tablespoons salt in 2 quarts cold water in large bowl or container. Add beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well. 

2. In large Dutch oven with tight-fitting lid, stir together drained beans, broth, water, 1 pepper half, 1 onion half (with root end), halved garlic head, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until beans are just soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Using tongs, remove and discard pepper, onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Drain beans in colander set over large bowl, reserving 2½ cups bean cooking liquid. (If you don’t have enough bean cooking liquid, add water to equal 2½ cups.) Do not wash out Dutch oven. 

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place rice in large fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear, about 1½ minutes. Shake strainer vigorously to remove all excess water; set rice aside. Cut remaining peppers and onion into 2-inch pieces and process in food processor until broken into rough ¼-inch pieces, about eight 1-second pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary; set vegetables aside. 

4. In now-empty Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon oil and salt pork over medium-low heat; cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and rendered, 15 to 20 minutes. Add remaining tablespoon oil, chopped peppers and onion, oregano, and cumin. Increase heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add rice and stir to coat, about 30 seconds. 

 5. Stir in beans, reserved bean cooking liquid, vinegar, and ½ teaspoon salt. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer. Cover and transfer to oven. Bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Fluff with fork and let rest, uncovered, 5 minutes. Serve, passing scallion and lime wedges separately.

Beef Empanadas

The first step in our streamlined beef empanada recipe was to enhance packaged ground chuck with aromatics, spices, and a chicken-broth-and-bread mixture, which kept the beef tender as it cooked. For the beef empanadas’ crust, we made a few Latin-inspired changes to our Foolproof Pie Dough recipe. We traded some of the flour for masa harina, the cornmeal used in Mexican cooking, omitted the shortening, and switched to all butter for better flavor. Finally, we finished our beef empanadas recipe by brushing the tops of the empanadas with oil for a shiny, crunchy crust. Placing them on a preheated oiled baking sheet ensured that the underside of the empanadas got as crispy as the top. 

The alcohol in the dough is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavor—do not substitute for it or omit. Masa harina can be found in the international aisle with other Latin foods or in the baking aisle with the flour. If you cannot find masa harina, replace it with additional all-purpose flour (for a total of 4 cups). After step 5, the empanadas can be covered tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Filling
1 large slice hearty white sandwich bread, torn into 1" pieces
2 tablespoons plus ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound 85-percent lean ground chuck
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped fine
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup packed cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup raisins, coarsely chopped
¼ pitted green olives, coarsely chopped
4 teaspoons cider vinegar

Dough 
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup masa harina
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes and chilled
½ cup cold vodka or tequila
½ cup cold water
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For the Filling
Process bread and 2 tablespoons chicken broth in food processor until paste forms, about 5 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.  Add beef, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and pulse until mixture is well combined, six to eight one-second pulses.

Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic, cumin, cayenne, and cloves; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add beef mixture and cook, breaking meat into 1-inch pieces with wooden spoon, until browned, about 7 minutes.  Add remaining ½ cup chicken broth and simmer until mixture is moist but not wet, 3 to 5 minutes.  Transfer mixture to bowl and cool 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro, eggs, raisins, olives, and vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.

For the Dough
Process 1 cup flour, masa harina, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about two one-second pulses.  Add butter and process until homogeneous and dough resembles wet sand, about 10 seconds.  Add remaining 2 cups flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl, 4 to 6 quick pulses.  Empty mixture into large bowl.

Sprinkle vodka or tequila and water over mixture. Using hands, mix dough until it forms tacky mass that sticks together. Divide dough in half, then divide each half into 6 equal pieces. Transfer dough pieces to plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes.

To Assemble
Adjust over racks to upper and lower-middle positions, place 1 baking sheet on each rack, and heat oven to 425 degrees. While baking sheets are preheating, remove dough from refrigerator. Roll each dough piece out on lightly floured work surface into 6-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick, covering each dough round with plastic wrap while rolling remaining dough.  Place about 1/3 cup filling in center of each dough round. Brush edges of dough with water and fold dough over filling.  rim any ragged edges. Press edges to seal. Crimp edges of empanadas using fork.

To Bake
Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over surface of each hot baking sheet, then return to oven for 2 minutes.  Brush empanadas with remaining tablespoon oil. Carefully place 6 empanadas on each baking sheet and cook until well browned and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking. Cool empanadas on wire rack 10 minutes and serve.