Cooking With David Maciel

Sponsored by Ray’s Food Place, Furber Plaza

Grandma’s Portuguese Beans Recipe

There was always of pot of beans on the stove that I can remember as a kid at my grandma’s house. I enjoy the aroma that it brings to the house, and if I close my eyes, I can still see my grandmother cooking them over the stove.

Ingredients

2 lbs. dry pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 links of Silva Brand linquica cut into quarter size pieces
1 medium sized yellow onion coarsely chopped
4 to 5 garlic cloves chopped
3 cups of smoked ham hock broth, or as needed
1 – 24oz cans of whole tomatoes with juice
1- 12 oz cans of tomatoes sauce
2 TBS of tomato paste
1 cup of red wine (zinfandel or similar)
½ cup of brown sugar
2 tsp of cumin

Soak the beans in a large pot over night, at least 12 hours. Rinse the beans, put back in the pot, add these
ingredients: Tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, smoked ham hock broth*, wine, to bring the level in the pot just above the beans by a few inches or less.

Sauté the linguica on low in a non-reactive pan (Teflon) to get the oil out, remove the linguica and set aside. Add the onions to the oil, sauté on medium heat until clear in color, then add the garlic for an additional 3 minutes. Add the mixture to the beans and stir.

When beans are at a full boil, reduce heat to LOW so they are only simmering. Cover pot leaving the lid off enough to let the steam out. Check the beans to make sure that they are not burning on the bottom by stirring every half hour. Cook beans for 3 to 4 hours, trying them after 3 hours for tenderness. Add more ham hock broth or water to keep liquid level above the beans as needed. Add linguica, pulled ham hock meat, brown sugar, and cumin to taste.

*Smoked Ham Hock Broth

2 or 3 Smoked Ham Hocks
3 Bay leaves

Place ham hocks & bay leaves in a large pot of water bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for about an hour lightly covered or until the meat is ready to fall off the bone. Strain broth into a large container, reserving the ham hocks into a separate bowl to cool. Discard the bay leaves and let the juice cool, skim off the oil from the surface.