Brazilian Black Beans and Rice

this recipe comes from my friend, Miriam, who is from Brazil.

My friend, Miriam, had our family over for dinner shortly after we moved to Charlotte. She is from Brazil, where they eat beans and rice very often. And that is what she served us for dinner that night. It was amazing! It makes sense that a Brazilian would cook some yummy beans. I was equally delighted at how delicious -my- beans turned out when I followed Miriam's recipe!

1 lb. dry black beans
7-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS salt
1 tsp black pepper
seasoning salt, any other spices; as desired

Rinse the beans, and soak them for 4-8 hours. (I actually didn't rinse the beans before soaking, I just drained the soaking water off before I cooked them.) Place beans in a pressure cooker, then fill the cooker with water until about 1/2 full...but not more than that! Place on medium high heat and cook for 25 minutes once the pressure cooker starts rattling. Remove from heat (place in cool water, if you want) and let the pressure release on its own.

In a separate pot, saute the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes. Add the beans (and the leftover water they cooked in). Add salt, pepper, spices and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes.

Note: Miriam told me that she sometimes adds little smokey sausages to the beans before pressure cooking them. I actually just cooked up some coined and quartered smoked sausage with my onions and garlic, and it tasted pretty good!

Miriam's Rice
1 C rice
2 C water
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
2 TBS olive oil

Saute the garlic in the oil. Add the rice, stirring continuously, until the rice starts to turn clear. Add salt and water. Bring to a boil, cover, turn heat down. Let cook for 15 minutes, or until rice had absorbed all the water. Let sit for a few minutes. Serve with black beans.


Note: When I made this meal, I cooked brown rice in my rice cooker, and I didn't add any garlic. I am sure that it would have tasted even better if I had followed Miriam's recipe for her rice, but it was still pretty delicious all the same! Also, Miriam uses fresh garlic cloves. I didn't have any on hand, so I used minced garlic from a jar. If you aren't used to the strength of flavor difference, then you probably won't even be able to tell!