Cookbook:Frijoles Antioqueños (Colombian Bean Stew)

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes | Colombia | Cereal Grain | Legumes

Frijoles Antioqueños (Colombian Bean Stew)
Category	Stew recipes
Servings	6
Time	1 Day (Cooking: 1 Hour)
Difficulty

Antioqueño Beans is an icon of Colombian Typical Food. Are main ingredient of what I consider the National dish: Bandeja Paisa (Paisa's Tray), and generally used in the Calentao.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of Red or Cargamanto beans
• 2 red tomatoes
• 1 cup of chopped scallions
• ¼ cup of Oil
• 2 Tbs of cumin
• 1 Tbs of allspice
• 6 cups of water
• 1 cube of chicken broth
• 1 large plantain (I like to use it very ripe, it gives a sweet taste to the beans)
• optional: add ½ lb of flank steak, pork legs, or pork rinds

Procedure

1. Wash beans and let hydrate overnight by covering with twice its amount in water.
2. Next day, remove floating beans.
3. I strongly recommend to use a pressure cooker, which will save you plenty of time when cooking the beans.
4. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker. Add scallions and let fry until it starts getting brown. Add tomato, cumin, cubed chicken broth and allspice. This is called "Hogao", a basic sauce for many Colombian dishes.
5. Add 6 cups of water, the beans, and plantain. Cook in medium heat until it boils.
6. Cover the pressure cooker, and let cook for 30 minutes.
7. Let cool, and open pressure cooker (I use to pull up the pressure valve with a knife, to let steam get out faster, but do so only if used to work with this type or pan).
8. Check water amount, and add optional beef / pork and close back. Cook for additional 30 minutes.
9. Check salt. If you wish them thicker, you can cook uncovered at low heat.

Variations, Tips

• When serving, you can put additional hogao, on top of it.
• You can serve it with white rice, avocado, ground beef, roasted beef, fried plantain, roasted chicken, corn "arepa" and many other combinations.
• "Trasnochado Beans" (or eaten one day after being cooked) are a great option to eat beans with a delicious concentrated flavor.
• If you want to build a Paisa's Tray (Bandeja Paisa), you should serve a portion of Antioqueño beans, a portion of white rice, a portion of ground beef, a slice of avocado, one fried sausage (Chorizo), fried ripe plantain, one fried blood sausage, pork rind, and one fried egg on top of the rice. Enjoy it!!!.
• Another delicious option for Antioqueño Beans, are the "Cazuelitas" (Small Casserole). You serve half of a casserole with Antioqueño Beans, and add to it corn, shredded beef ("Ropa Vieja"), avocado (cubed), and ground pork rind.