For those of you who are like me, you do not like the way we Americans make beans. Not green beans, but pinto beans, red beans, kidney beans, black beans, etc. To me, those beans have always been lacking in a delicious flavor. I never really cared for their texture, either. Well, I got married to a Dominican, and Dominicans eat a LOT of beans. I mean, a LOT. When I first visited my husband's family, I was scared I wouldn't like any of the food because I knew that they ate beans with everything, and I didn't want to be rude and not eat the food they made. My husband told me that they made beans very differently than us, and that I should try them.
I'm so glad I did.
I'm a little obsessed now. Okay, a lot obsessed.
Dominicans put this sauce (which my mother-in-law calls Sazón Líquido) in with their beans, and depending on what type of beans they are, they put other things in with them as well. They also use this sauce with their meat (they'll add some tomato sauce with this when they put it with meat) and it tastes simply divine.
The recipe I'm going to share with you is the recipe my mother-in-law uses. She didn't get it from a book; this recipe is one she keeps in her head, and it's a recipe that's been passed down to me. I'm not an expert at it yet, but the one I made today sure tasted good when I put it with my gandules! (green pigeon peas)
(In later blog posts, I'll tell you specifically incorporate this into other recipes for different beans).
This makes quite a bit of sauce, however, it lasts a long time because there's a lot of garlic in it, and garlic is a natural preservative.
Sazón Líquido
Ingredients:
3 garlic heads (yes, HEADS, not cloves)
3 small red onions (each about the size of a radish)
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
½ the container of alcaparrado (seedless)
¼ of the bunch of cilantro
2 stalks of celery
About ½ cup of water (but no more!)
Directions:
In a food processor, chop finely all the ingredients
together until it becomes a liquidy paste.Wait to add the water. If needed, add (at the maximum) 1/2 cup of water to make it blend better.
If the alcaparrado you get isn't seedless, you'll need to take the seeds out of the olives before you try to blend it. The seeds are incredibly hard, and it might break your blender if they are not pitted!
ReplyDeleteI accidentally had some seeds still in mine when I made it, and now I have to watch for the seeds when I eat!