Black Bean and Pork Stew is Perfect for Cold Weather

My dear sister-in-law Anne once brought a pot of this stew to our Christmas gathering and it was a hit. She gave me the recipe and I made it once, but then lost track of it. Because it calls for cooking black beans from scratch, it becomes the kind of recipe that I'm not going to put on rotation...takes too much time. But it is still a fabulous recipe.

A few days ago I decided to see if I could make it using canned black beans. Having already-cooked beans shortened the time needed for making it...but would it still be delicious?

Sweetie thinks it's even better! I used four cans of organic black beans, rinsing the beans in each can in turn to get rid of the excess bean liquid. That liquid can contribute to gastric discomfort and we didn't have any Beano on hand.

Because the original recipe calls for cooking the beans with aromatics like onion, garlic and red pepper, I decided to heat up the three of the cans of the beans with those after I had sautéed the onion, garlic and red pepper in some olive oil. Then that mixture went into a Dutch oven and I added a cup of water. After stirring that around, I strained out the liquid and used it later to puree the last can of beans. 

Because the beans and aromatics left too much residue for my liking,  I rinsed out the cast iron skillet before I used the cast iron skillet to cook the meat. The cooked meat went into the Dutch oven, too. Then I deglazed the pan with the orange juice and wine and cooked it down a bit, then put that into the Dutch oven. Last, I pureed the final can of beans with the liquid from the beans and aromatics, then put the puree into the Dutch oven, and then stirred it all together. It smelled wonderful! After adjusting the seasonings, the covered Dutch oven went into the preheated oven to bake for 30 minutes. Once the stew was out of the oven I checked for flavor and texture and decided that another 1/2 cup red wine helped both. You can also check for salt and pepper, need for a bit more orange juice for the acid boost, etc.

At this point you can serve the stew with the orange segments, perhaps over saffron rice, or you can do what I did and let it cool in the pot a bit then refrigerate for a day or two. This allows the mixture to blend flavors and mellow - a normal thing when onions are involved, in my experience.

When I reheated the stew the evening I served it, I just put the pot of stew over low heat and stirred it frequently until it was hot. I forgot about the rice and just served it with the fresh orange segments. Sooo good! Depending on appetites and if you serve it with rice, this makes 4, 6, or 8 servings. It's hearty, full flavored, and delicious. I still had a lot of pots and pans to wash up, but the time cooking was reduced quite a bit. You can start it by about 4 in the afternoon and have it on the table by 5:30 or 6 if you serve it the same day. Enjoy!

Pork and Black Beans over Rice
Based on a recipe in Paula Peck's Art of Good Cooking
Serves 6

4 cans cooked black beans, 15 oz. each, rinsed in cold water
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, minced
1 large bell pepper (green, red, yellow or orange), seeded and diced
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 1 /2 pounds unsmoked pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
¾ pound fresh pork sausage - Sweetie bought Italian style, which ended up OK
2/3 cup orange juice
½ cup dry red wine
2 -3 fresh oranges

Open the cans of beans and rinse under cold water (I used a fine-mesh strainer and rinsed a can at a time. Reserve the contents of one can to be pureed later, but do wash the beans in that can before pureeing.

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic, onion and bell pepper and sauté’ until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the onion mixture, three cans of rinsed beans and 1 cup water to a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot that can go in the oven. Cover the pot, and simmer about 5 minutes, then strain out the liquid and reserve.

Return the drained beans to the pot and cover to keep warm. Puree’ the remaining 1 can of beans with as much reserved bean liquid as necessary in a blender. Stir bean puree’ into cooked beans and keep warm.

Brown pork cubes and sausage in their own fat in the skillet. (Rinse the skillet if desired after cooking the onion mixture and before cooking the meat.) If very lean, use a little olive oil. Pour off fat when meats are golden all over, and, if in casing, cut sausage into 1 inch pieces. If not in casing, break up sausage into chunks. Add both meats to beans; season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Pour orange juice and wine into the skillet that the meats were browned in, and cook over high heat until liquid is reduced to less than half, scraping any brown bits in the pan into the sauce. Pour into the bean mixture and stir to combine all flavors. Place in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. If desired, add more wine and/or orange juice if taste or texture would be improved by the addition.

While pork and beans are cooking, peel the oranges, slice an inch thick and separate into segments…you’ll have about 1 ½ cups of triangles of orange.

Serve over saffron or steamed rice, if desired. Garnish with orange segments. The uncooked, juicy, sharpness of the fresh orange is essential to this dish...the rice is great, but optional.