Black Beans and Rice

I had an excellent meal of black beans and rice recently and realized it had been too long since I made this dish.  I had a friend that lived in Costa Rica and we spent a lot of time there and I fell in love with beans and rice.

 A couple days ago, I soaked 2 pounds of black beans in water overnight. The next morning I added some smoked turkey to the pot along with pepper, oregano and 3 bay leaves.

 Then I added a diced red pepper, 1 diced green pepper, 1 diced onion, 1 tablespoon cumin and 3 cloves of minced garlic. Bring this to a boil then cover and turn to simmer and cook for about 2 hours until the beans are tender.

Remove the smoked turkey and discard  them, taste for seasoning and add some salt if needed.  You can mash 1-2 cups of the beans and add them back in to thicken the mixture.

For the rice, I started it by adding some annatto seeds to a couple tablespoons of oil. Cook them until the oil turns red and then strain them out and throw the seeds away.

Pour the oil in a heavy pot and add about 4 minced garlic cloves.  If you don't like garlic you can make it using just onions.

Add 1 diced onion and a few tablespoons of minced celery.

I like this seasoning which can be found in the Latin section of the grocery store.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon over the vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Let this simmer for a few minutes.

Stir the beans and let them simmer over very low heat.

A pot of black magic.

Rinse 2 cups of rice and add it to the pot.

I also added 2 packs of this Sazon seasoning.

Add 4 cups of chicken stock.

Stir it around and bring to a low boil.

Then cover it and simmer it for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff the rice.

Ladle some of the beans into a bowl.

Place a mound of rice in the center and sprinkle some green onion and cilantro over the top. Serve it with a wedge of lime.