What better way to “celebrate” Black Friday (Friday the 13th) than to talk about black beans! But firstly, where does Black Friday come from? Fear of Friday the 13th is associated with bad-luck relating with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities combined to make one super unlucky day. And a person who suffers from Black Friday phobia? A friggatriskaidekaphobia An even more interesting fact is that there are less accidents on Friday the 13th than other Fridays and people are slightly safer on this day too.
A few days ago, we received a visit from a potential client and what better opportunity for Anthony (our CEO) to show off his cooking skills.
Together with his “sous-chef” Candice and a Puerto Rican theme in mind, they made a tasty lunch consisting of black beans & rice with a side of fried plantains for everyone here in the office. Black beans & rice is typically a Mexican or Cuban cuisine, whereas the fried plantains is Latin-American/Puerto Rican.
Squeaky’s Black (bean) friday
Today we use dried black beans straight from the packet. These need to be soaked or cooked in a pot of water for a few hours. (If time is against you, you can use the black beans from the can. We typically like using the Goya branded black beans as it has a nicer texture and doesn’t disintegrate when cooked.)
Anthony brought in some of his special homemade Sofrito, consisting of bell peppers, cilantro, tomato, onion chopped up chunky and pickled together in the fridge (or freezer if you wanted to keep it for longer). Sofrito is the base for most Puerto Rican dishes, so this comes straight from Anthony’s secret home recipes. It had a nice strong aromatic herby smell and was put into the black beans for a Puerto Rican twist.
Our pot of black beans was combined with a few onions, red & green bell peppers and boiled for around 2 hours all up. Don’t forget to season this with salt, pepper and cilantro.
Fried Plantains
Known as Puerto Rican Tostones, crispy fried plantains are a nice appetizer before the meal. The process to make these is not as easy as one first thinks. Here is the process:
1. Peel and chop the plantains into 2-3 cm chunks.
2. Place the plantains in a pan full of oil, frying both sides.
3. Flatten the fried plantains with a Tostonera . (You can also use a plate or wooden spoon to press the plantains flat.)
4. After flattening, place the plantains straight back into the oil.
5. Fry these until both sides are crispy.
6. Place on a piece of oil soak paper or kitchen towel to cool and season with salt.
As an addition, we chopped up around 4-5 heads of garlic and soaked them in a bowl of good quality olive oil together with approx 1 1/2 lemons, salt and pepper. This oil added that special touch to the plantains that make you think “WOW! Tasty!”
This meal is quick, easy, tasty and can easily serve 20 people a tasty lunch. Happy Black (bean) Friday!
