"Habichuelas con Dulce" is a Dominican dessert of red kidney beans and coconut milk. We traditionally make it every year on ash Wednesday, and although some households and families make it year round, most of us only enjoy them during this time of the year.
I'm sure you are probably making a face at the mere thought of beans and dessert in the same sentence, as most gringos usually do. Well, how about you step outside of your little box and give it a try? The worse than can happen is that you don't like them. If that's the case it won't be the first or last time you taste something you don't appreciate.
I know that they are not for everyone. My friend P moved to my home country from Bulgaria, and she was never able to use the name of this sweet treat in a sentence without some nasty adjective attached to it. But if you end up liking them, you will be so glad to have entered the world of those of us who are not afraid of sweet beans!
Like most Dominicans, I love them! So much, that every year, on ash Wednesday -even though I am far from religious, and not even close to giving anything up for lent- I cook this dish, and think of the Island and my childhood.
As much as I enjoy eating them though, making "Habichuelas con Dulce" is a tedious and long process. This year I decided there had to be a quicker way, so I came up with the "Habichuelas con Dulce" quickie. I highly doubt I am the first to do this, but I still thought it was worth documenting for all of you.
Here's what you'll need:
3 cans of cooked red kidney beans
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of Evaporated Milk -I'm not sure why we use this milk so much back home. My theory is that since it doesn't have to be refrigerated, and we suffer from constant blackouts, it was just something that people always had in hand- If you have dairy allergies, omit and use 2 cans of the coconut milk.
1 or 2 medium Japanese Yams, diced
1 cup raisins soaked in rum and drained -You can drink the rum if you want, as my friend T says "if it's less than an ounce it doesn't count"-
1 1/2 to 3 cups of sugar -Dominicans need everything to be so sweet it hurts you, so they would probably go as high as 3 cups. My palate had adapted so I thought 1 1/2 cups was plenty of sugar. Use your taste buds to tell you where you stand on this very delicate issue-
1 pinch of salt
2 sticks of Cinnamon
5 ea Cloves
Freshly grated Nutmeg
4 TB Butter
1 tsp Lime Juice
First I pureed the beans (including their juices) with the milks in the blender, and strained them into a heavy bottomed pot. My first mistake was using too small of a pot.
Once in the bigger pot, which was clay, and worked much better for this dish's slow cooking needs, my culinary expertise told me that I should bring them to a boil and turn them down to a simmer. I was diligent about stirring often to make sure they didn't scorch, until I got distracted by a train of text messages from my brother, my mother and my friend S. They didn't scorch, probably only because of my amazing clay pot (her name is Sofia :)) but they did over boil and make a giant mess on the stove which led me to transfer #2.
I temporarily put them in a random pot, washed Sofia, and poured them back in (transfer # 3). Then I brought them back to an almost boil, and quickly turned down the heat to medium low. Now, this recipe is quicker than the original one, but you're still going to have to keep a close eye on them, and stir them often, or they will scorch. At this point, I cooked them on low heat for about an hour. You need to cook them until they have thickened almost to the consistency of a loose pudding. Make sure to taste the sweet potatoes to ensure that they are fully cooked. Once done whisk in the butter until dissolved.
The dessert is now ready. When I make this, I like putting them away in multiple Mason Jars, and one larger container, that way I can bring a few jars to work and share them with friends. Since it's such a heavy and unusual dish, there is only so much of it you can handle, even if you love it. So I find it's best to give some of it away, or you will find it moldy in the back of the fridge in a few weeks. And take my word for it, you don't want to smell this dish once it's gone bad!
We eat them with these awesome little cookies that we call "church cookies" because they have a little cross on them. Since we can't get those in the States, any good sugar cookie will do. I love them with Whole Wheat Sables, from Alice Medrich's Pure Desserts book. They go so well together.
My favorite way to eat this dish is cold, from the fridge, or hot, from the pan. I like it best as breakfast or dinner, instead of as dessert, because it is so heavy.
I hope you are adventurous enough to give this a shot. Maybe you can host a pot luck with a challenge of who can bring the weirdest dish! You might just win it with this one!
Buen Provecho!
