A few weeks ago I had an idea - to attempt making habichuelas con dulce for Easter. So I called up the 'rents and told them to send me those galleticas that you put on top. These things >>>A week or so after that I called 'em up again and asked if they had sent the cookies. "Ay Jessica a mi se me olvido eso!" So the day after this conversation they went to buy the cookies to send to me, although by this time it was unsure if they would even get to me in time for Easter.
(First, a small digression: habichuelas con dulce, or 'sweet cream of beans' [whoa the english translation is not appetizing at all!] is a Dominican dessert that is traditionally made around Easter time, usually made in big batches to be shared with family, friends and neighbors.)
Anyway so luckily I received the package a few days ago, just in time for me to experiment making this thing. So I called up Mami & Papi again so they could explain how to make it... and between all the laughs (they were laughing at the thought of me making habichuela con dulce) I got the main gist of it. Mami asked if I had batata: No. She asked if I had a blender: not exactly. She asked if I had evaporated milk: Nope. How was I going to make this crap then?? By using the PC motto we learned in our PST Orientation: adaptability, flexibility, and humor. (Well, I don't know if that's the motto at all, PST was a long time ago but I'm pretty sure that was it.)
So back to my attempt. I woke up early and soaked the beans in water. I started cooking when I got back from my field trip with the music school, at around 8pm, at which point I put the beans to soften by boiling it in water with a cinnamon stick and 10 cloves.
About an hour and 45 minutes later (or about 2 Dexter episodes) I decided they were done and took the pot upstairs to my host mom's kitchen. She was going to let me use her food processor, YAY! I put the beans in there and watched as it became a paste. I poured the paste back into the pot with the bean water and went back downstairs to my kitchen, where I proceeded to mash this together. I then strained this to get all the bean skins out, and what was left was a thick cream, to which I added two individually sized Pal Suds (milk containers). I put this on the stove to boil and added 1/2 a teaspoon vanilla, another cinnamon stick, 5 more cloves, some freshly grated nutmeg, 2/3rds cup of coconut milk (I bought coconut milk powder in Baku) and half a cup of sugar. I let this boil for about half an hour, and BOOM! DONE. I filled a bowl with it and grabbed a bag of cookies and took it up to my host mom, who said she would try it in the morning. I then had my first serving of my first habichuela con dulce! Behold:
*They look a lot less red than they should. Why? because I didn't find red kidney beans, I used what looked like pinto beans from the bazar. Also, there's no batata or raisins in there. Basically this is an Azerbaijani version, with ingredients available in this country. Except for the cookies of course. Those are straight from DR. (Well, made in DR but imported by someplace in the Bronx, bought by my family in Pennsylvania and then sent to me through the USPS.)
The final taste verdict: Awesome. It's delicious! I'm so proud of myself. I should start calling myself "GRANO DULCE"! (Anyone from the Heights remember that guy? Grano Dulce? He had a giant pot of habichuela con dulce that he pushed around in a shopping cart around the 170s with some speakers that always blasted "AYYY! YO SOY GRANO DULCE!" I always saw him on St. Nicholas.... No? No one knows what I'm talking about? Alright then movin' on...)
Happy Easter people!
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