Gallo Pinto

This based off of what I have seen in several recipes. Altered a bit in an attempt to come close to what we were often served in Costa Rica.

Soak about 1c black beans.
rinse
Add powdered garlic (fresh doesn't survive the long boil well)
Pressure-cook. Don't worry about having a bit too much water.

Use as much of the bean juice as possible in cooking 2c rice.

Add about 1/4 c Lizano Salsa (which is more curry-like than hot-sauce) to the bean pot and stir.

Saute some onion, cumin, pepper, and perhaps some diced green or red sweet peppers, mild to medium chili peppers are also good.
Add to the beans and stir.
Add the cooked rice, and stir.
Add about 1tsp of Tobasco (to taste), and about 1/2 tsp of Worchestershire (omit the tobasco if it is hot enough from previous chili peppers)
Salt to taste
Add some chopped cilantro and serve.


Quantities are pretty forgiving. Sorry there are not many details here.

There aren't recipes for this in Costa Rica, since everybody just knows how to make it.


Aaron Birenboim
Last modified: Sun Sep 3 21:16:10 MDT 2006