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Ingredients

• 2 cups of basmati rice
• ½ cup dried black beans
• 1 cup dry white cooking wine
• 1.5 garlic heads peeled (I’m a garlic head).
• ½ green bell pepper plus two strips
• ½ Spanish/sweet onion
• 5-10 pitted manzanilla green olive (I use the ones with pimiento in them)
• However much lard you feel comfortable with. I use about two heaping spoons full.
• ½ cup of olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• oregano to taste
• parsley to taste
• a slight pinch of paprika
• salt and black pepper to taste
• cilantro to taste (if you like cilantro, ofc)

Steps

1. Get half a cup of olive oil, and press half a full garlic into it. Set it aside for later.

2. Soften the beans using your preferred method. I use a pressure cooker. Add the two strips of green bell pepper to this process.

3. Dice the onion and leftover bell pepper. Chop the olives in half.

4. Use a garlic press and sautee a garlic in the lard at a temperature just enough to make it sautee. The lower, the better. This gets the lard tasting like garlic oil. We want to make sure we don’t overcook the garlic and so that it turns brown. I like to do this in a cast iron pot so I can make the rice in it later.

5. Once the lard looks like it tastes like garlic, add the diced onion and rest of bell pepper. This mix is called “sofrito”.

6. Once the onion is translucent, strain half of the beans using a spatula against the pot and sautee them with the sofrito. You can also add half of the rice to this mix. Get the delicious oil into the beans and rice!

7. Once you feel that the beans and rice have enough juice in them (probably around 5-10 mins), we’re going to make the arroz con gris. Place all of the rice, beans, and sofrito in a pot.

8. Add 2 cups of black water leftover from the bean softening process and 1 cup of cooking wine. Sometimes, people will use half a cup of cooking wine and half a cup of vinegar.

9. Add the herbs: oregano, parsley, and an optional small amount of paprika. It's hard to put too much oregano, but be more careful with the parsley. Don’t put too much paprika it can be overpowering. We want just a slight barely noticeable hint of paprika. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you’re unsure of the amount, use less than you feel comfortable with because you can always add it later when you’re eating it. Also, add bay leaf.

10. Set the stove to high and get the mix to boil, and as soon as it does, lower the temp to a low simmer (like 1-2 on my stove), and close the pot with a lid. Set a timer for 20 mins. Once the timer goes off, check it. If it looks wet, it still needs to cook more. If it looks dry but hard, you might need to add ¼ more black water and this means the temp is too high. If it looks almost done, then turn the stove off. After ~5 mins, take the top off, and mix it with a spatula. It’s almost done! Note: The more often you lift the lid to check the rice, the more you will need to add water because the steam escapes.

11. Once it’s fluffy, it’s time to serve. Yay! Serve the con gris onto plates. Use a spoon to drizzle as much of that garlic/olive oil mix we made at the beginning as you want. I like using a lot because I’m a garlic head. I've never said, "This is too much garlic." Also, raw garlic is good for your heart, medically speaking. You can add cilantro now too, but not earlier because it will get cooked and change the flavor.

12. Eat it! If there are leftovers, place them in containers and freeze it in case you’re hungry in 6-12 months 😜

13. Tell me how it came out.

• Let me know if you have any questions! If you’re cooking and have questions in the moment, hit me up on Matrix. I love this stuff and would be excited to guide you through the process. @backonmybs:matrix.org