Lolitas Red Beans Colombia Recipes

COLOMBIAN-STYLE RED BEANS

Steps:

• Program a 6-quart programmable electric pressure cooker to Sauté on Normal heat. Add oil to cooker, and heat until warm. Add chorizo; cook, stirring occasionally to crumble, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, achiote paste, cumin, and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes. Stir in stock and beans.
• Close and lock lid of cooker; turn pressure release valve to sealing position. Program cooker to cook on Manual on High Pressure for 45 minutes. Turn pressure valve to the venting position to quickly release pressure (steam) from cooker until float valve drops. Carefully remove lid. Divide beans between 8 small bowls; garnish with cilantro.

ABUELO PELáEZ'S FRIJOLES NEGROS (BLACK BEANS)

Steps:

• In a large pot, soak beans overnight in 10 cups of water.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil, the onion, bell pepper, garlic cloves and bay leaf to beans, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour, checking regularly and skimming the foam that forms on top.
• Meanwhile, make the sofrito. Warm remaining 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the half onion, 1 bell pepper and 3 garlic cloves and sauté for about 5 minutes until soft. Add 1 bay leaf, cumin, oregano, black pepper and salt, and cook for 2 minutes more.
• Add the sofrito to beans. Stir in sherry vinegar, wine and olives, and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened and cooked through. Remove both bay leaves, and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add sugar. Serve as soup or a side dish, or over white rice.

COLOMBIAN LENTILS

Steps:

• Combine the lentils, water, tomato, onion, cumin, salt, and vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat; bring to a boil. Cook and stir at a boil until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes more.

AUTHENTIC LOUISIANA RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Rinse beans, and then soak in a large pot of water overnight.
• In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, bell pepper, garlic, and celery in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Rinse beans, and transfer to a large pot with 6 cups water. Stir cooked vegetables into beans. Season with bay leaves, cayenne pepper, thyme, sage, parsley, and Cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
• Stir sausage into beans, and continue to simmer for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the rice. In a saucepan, bring water and rice to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve beans over steamed white rice.

FRIJOLES ROJOS COLOMBIANOS (COLOMBIAN-STYLE RED BEANS)

Steps:

• Place the onions, scallions, garlic, red pepper, green pepper and tomatoes in the food processor. Process for a couple minutes. Set aside.
• In a large pot over medium heat, add the beans, water, broth, carrots and processed vegetables and carrots. Slightly cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
• Add the achiote powder, ground cumin, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes more or until the beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper.

LOLITAS RED BEANS (COLOMBIA)

Steps:

• In large saucepan, saute onion in butter until lightly brown, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add the cabbage, and bean broth to equal about 1 cup, adding water to the broth if needed.
• Cook until cabbage is tender, about 5 more minutes. Add the chili sauce, and salt and pepper.
• Bring to boil; reduce heat simmer 5 minutes.
• Serve immediately with tortillas.

STUFFED POTATOES - PAPAS RELLENAS, COLOMBIA

Steps:

• 1) Boil the whole potatoes in a pot filled with enough water to completely cover the potatoes. About 30 to 45 minutes.
• 2) Once the potatoes are cooked, take them out of the pot and set them aside on a plate to cool for about one hour.
• 3) While the potatoes are cooling, chop the green onions and tomato into small chunks and saute these in the butter (or olive oil) adding the garlic, cumin, 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper. We call this the "Hogao".
• 4) Cook the hamburger meat in a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil until it is no longer pink. Do not overcook. While the meat is cooking, add the corn starch, the remaining salt and more cumin if you wish. Make sure that the meat turns out crumbly with no large chunks.
• 5) Thoroughly mix the "hogao" and cooked hamburger meat in a bowl and set aside to cool.
• 6) Cut the potatoes in half. Now we come to the tricky part. In other countries, they mash the potatoes and simply make round balls out of them. We do it the hard way in Colombia. Take each potato half and scoop the middle of it out with a spoon so that you end up with a small "potato bowl". Be careful not too scoop too much out as you may accidentally go through the skin and the potato may fall apart on you.
• 7) Now, take the scooped out potato "meat" and cut through it with a sharp knife. Don't use a fork because it may turn into "mashed potatoes" and the texture will be much better the coarser it is.
• 8) Place the potato "meat" in the bowl with the hamburger and hogao and mix thoroughly, making sure that there are no really large chunks of potato in the mixture.
• 9) Add the cooked rice to the mixture and mix thoroughly once more.
• 10) With your fingers, take some of the meat/rice mixture and fill the middle of the potato bowls with enough mixture to form a dome. In other words, shape the mixture so that it now looks like you have a whole potato again.
• 11) Heat your oil to frying temperature.
• 12) Beat together the large eggs, milk and the flour until smooth. (I add a little salt, pepper and cumin to my batter but it is up to your taste).
• 13) Roll each stuffed potato in the batter until well covered and drop into the hot oil using a slotted spoon. Cook until golden on one side, roll over and cook the other side.
• 14) Remove potatoes from the oil and drain on a plate or platter lined with a thick layer of paper towels on the bottom.
• 15) Enjoy! I like to use squeezed lemon or a mild salsa on my papas rellenas but they are delicious just by themselves.
• Hint: Sometimes, as you deep-fry the potatoes, you may notice that the batter may slide off leaving a blank spot on your potato. What I do, is that I use a teaspoon to pour some of the raw batter over the spot, carefully "slosh" some of the hot oil over it with the slotted spoon to set the batter and roll it over once more to cook the spot.

JESSICA'S RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Combine sausage, half the onion, half the green bell pepper, half the jalapeno pepper, water, chicken bouillon, garlic and herb seasoning, Cajun seasoning blend, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf in a large stockpot; Bring to boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Mix kidney beans, tomatoes, remaining onion, remaining green bell pepper, and remaining jalapeno pepper into the sausage mixture; season with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until kidney bean mixture is thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf.
• Spoon 1/2 cup cooked rice into 6 serving bowls; top with kidney bean mixture.

AUTHENTIC, NO SHORTCUTS, LOUISIANA RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Place the beans and water into a slow cooker. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the sausage in the skillet; remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon and transfer to the slow cooker. Reserve drippings. Add onion, green pepper, jalapeno pepper and garlic to the drippings; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer everything from the skillet to the slow cooker.
• Season the mixture with pepper and Creole seasoning. Add the fresh basil leaves and ham hock. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, or until beans are tender. If the bean mixture seems too watery, take the lid off the slow cooker and set heat to High to cook until they reach a creamy texture.

COLOMBIAN RED BEANS - FRIJOLES COLOMBIANOS

Steps:

• Sauté the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and reserve for another use, but leave the bacon drippings in the pan.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped scallions, and cumin to the pan. Sauté them in the bacon fat until they are soft, about 5 to 8 minutes.
• Add the beans (including liquid) to the pan. Add sugar, water, and the chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes more, until most of the water has evaporated and the beans have thickened.
• Remove from heat and stir in the chopped cilantro.
• Serve with rice.

GALLO PINTO (RED BEANS AND RICE)

Steps:

• Combine water and beans in a large pan; bring to a boil. Add rice. Cover and cook until rice is completely soft, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

VENEZUELAN CHRISTMAS HALLACAS ALSO SERVED IN COLOMBIA

Steps:

• FOR THE MEAT FILLING: Put beef, pork, and bacon in a large pan. Puree the tomatoes with the peeled onion and garlic. Add mixture to the meat pan along with the salt, marjoram, and leek. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and continue cooking until all meat is tender, about 2 hours.
• When meat is tender, add to the meat mixture the capers, mustard pickles, vinegar, bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Raise the heat to high and cook the filling, stirring, until almost all liquid in the pan has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the raisins and set filling aside.
• FOR THE MASA DOUGH: Over a low heat, melt 1/3 cup lard with the annatto seeds. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes.
• Whip remaining lard until fluffy. Beat in masa harina, salt, cayenne peper, and water. Finally, beat in melted, strained lard, discarding annatto seeds. Form dough into 24 balls.
• FOR THE FINAL PREPARATIONS: Put a ball of Masa Dough in the center of each corn husk. Flatten dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Top each masa-coated husk with an equal distribution of the meat mixture, chicken, hard cooked eggs, almonds, pimentos, and olives. Sprinkle on Tabasco sauce to taste.
• Fold corn husks to completely encase the filling. Tie each hallaca with thin strips of corn husk or kitchen string. When tightly assembled, steam halacas for 1 hour. Serve piping hot.
• NOTE: Hallacas are easily refrigerated or frozen. Reheat by steaming again until hot. Makes 24 Hallacas.
• source--Macuto-Sheraton Hotel, Caracas, Venezuela.

EMPANADAS - ANTIOQUIA, COLOMBIA

Steps:

• The Dough.
• Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and begin to add the chicken broth until you have a smooth, humid, easy to work dough. Cover the bowl and let the "masa" rest for about one hour.
• The Filling.
• In a frying pan, heat the butter, margarine or oil over medium heat and partially fry the onions and tomatoes. Add the hamburger meat and brown thoroughly. Drain.
• In a large bowl, combine the browned meat mixture with the rice, potatoes, chopped cilantro and spices.
• The Empanada.
• Now, if you have a tortilla press, you're sitting pretty for the next step. If you don't have one, two pieces of 1" wood about 8" square will do just fine. Lacking that, anything flat and a counter top will work. Or, if you feel adventurous, you can use your own two little hands!
• Roll the "masa" (dough) into little balls about 1" in diameter. Place the masa ball on top of a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper. Cover with another piece of plastic or wax paper and press it into a flat circle (depending on the size of the original masa ball, the flat circle will turn out to be about 3 to 4 inches in diameter). Remove the top piece of plastic. Now add about one rounded tablespoon of the filling to the middle of the circle leaving about 1/2" of space on the sides. Using the plastic, fold the circle in half and press the edges together so it forms a half-moon. Remove from the plastic and, using your fingers, press the edges firmly together so the empanada is sealed. I like to make them pretty so, after the empanada is sealed, I take the tip of my finger and fold the edges at small intervals so that the empanada has a "scalloped" look to the edges.
• Cook them in bunches but don't prepare too many at a time and let them sit while the others cook since this tends to dry out the masa too much. Also, as you are cooking, keep the bowl of masa covered with a humid towel to keep it from getting too dry.
• Cooking.
• The traditional method, of course, is to fry the empanadas in a large, iron cauldron (approximately 50 years old), on top of a wood fire, outdoors, in about twenty pounds of pork lard that was used to fry the empanadas for the last month and a half.
• However, tradition does not always mean that it is right. Most of the time tradition simply means "lack of technology and alternate methods.".
• I use a deep-fat fryer filled with Canola or Peanut oil. For even healthier empanadas, they can be baked in the oven at 350 degrees F on a greased cookie sheet. Baking them, of course, takes longer and you will have to turn the empanadas once. Bake or fry until golden brown.
• If you fry them (the best method because they turn out nice and crunchy), make sure you place the finished empanadas on a cookie sheet whose bottom you have lined with a thick layer of paper towels. This will allow the excess oil to drain.
• The tradition in Colombia is to have an empanada in one hand and a wedge of lemon in the other. As you take a bite, you squeeze a few drops of lemon juice inside. A bowl of your favorite salsa and a teaspoon will also do the job quite well. This recipe should yield approximately 4 to 5 dozen empanadas.
• Waste not, want not.
• I made a bunch of empanadas the other day and found that I had mad way too much masa for the amount of filling I had. I did not want to waste the masa nor did I want to put it in the refrigerator until the next time I made empanadas. So, I thought about it for a while. I had about two pounds of masa left so I added a large package of shredded Monterey Jack cheese, a whole lot more cumin, some more onion powder and garlic powder and a little more salt. I then browned one pound of ground sausage and added it to the mixture.
• I rolled the mixture into 1" balls and deep fried them. They were great! I love it when my weird experiments turn into new recipes!