Recipe 3: Black Eyed Beans

Black eyed beans is typically made on New Year's day in Southern states in the United States of America. The indigenous people believe that it brings them good luck in the new year. Now, because I'm someone who believes you can't have too much of a good thing, if this meal brings good luck then I better be making it all year round (right? it makes sense to me). So here's my take on an American classic; black eyed beans served with white rice.

Ingredients:

For Beans:
Black eyed beans (or white beans for my naija folk)- 4 cups
Onion- 1 medium size, diced
Garlic- 2 cloves, finely chopped
Ham- 2½ cups, cubed into bite size pieces
Chicken- 3 chicken breasts (cooked), shredded
Dried bay leaves- 4
Dried thyme- ¼ tbsp
Ground dried pepper (naija pepper)- ½ tbsp
Curry- ¼ tbsp
Garlic powder- 1 tbsp
Ginger- 1 pinch (unless of course you like ginger, I won't add more than ½ of a tbsp)
Bouillon cubes- 2 cubes (if you're using Maggi, or one cube if you're using Knorr) 
Salt- ½ tbsp
Black pepper- 1 tbsp
Bacon- 4 strips
Water

For Rice:
Rice- 1 cup
Water- 2 cups
Salt to taste (optional)

Feel free to replace the ham and bacon in this recipe with chicken or fish. If you have access to fresh bay leaves and thyme, use that. If you cannot find garlic powder, just use an extra clove of garlic. You can also add some green pepper to this recipe to give it some color contrast.

Preparation: For Beans


Step 1) Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a pot. Wash the beans with some water that is at room temperature. Add the beans to the water and turn down the temperature to medium heat. Cover the pot and leave to cook until the beans has absorbed most of the water. This can take anywhere between 30mins to an hour depending on how effective your stove top is.

Step 2) Add your diced onions and dried bay leaves into the beans after the beans has absorbed most of the water. Use a cooking spoon to mix the onions and dried bay leaves into the beans and add more water if the beans is not yet as soft as you'd like it to be.

At this point the amount of water you add is dependent on how soft and watery you would like your beans to be. If you want your beans to be softer, leave the beans to absorb more of the moisture. If you like the texture of the beans and you would like it a bit more watery, then do not bother leaving the beans to absorb more moisture and just move on to the next step. If you want a softer texture with a watery consistency, then leave the beans to absorb some moisture, check the consistency and if the moisture left is not as much as you'd like it to be, then add just enough water and move to the next step.

Step 3) Add your ham, chicken, garlic (fresh and/or ground), thyme, pepper, curry, ginger, bouillon cubes, salt and  black pepper. Leave this to simmer on low heat for 15-30mins (the longer it simmers the more the flavors are incorporated, but remember everything in moderation).

Step 4) Add your bacon (optional)

Voila, your beans is prepared. Now on to the next phase of this meal

For rice

Step 1) Bring two cups of water to a boil and add a cup of rice to the water. Turn down the heat to low heat and allow the rice to absorb all the water. This can take about 30mins so keep an eye on the rice as it cooks.

And now you're ready to serve.

So until next time, bon appetit.

xoxo #foodgasm
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