Black beans with Sofrito

My darling husband loves black beans, and I just happened to have a ham bone left over from Easter, so this was perfect.  

• 2 green peppers, stemmed and seeded
• 10 garlic cloves
• 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over to remove any stones
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3 T  slices thick bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon turbinado or other brown sugar

Cut 1 green pepper into 1-inch squares. Smash and peel 4 of the garlic cloves. Put the green pepper and garlic into a large pot with the beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon salt. Add 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer until the beans are tender, an hour or more.

Meanwhile, make a sofrito. Cut the remaining ½ green pepper into ¼-inch dice. Peel and finely chop the remaining garlic. Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and onion and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeño (leave out the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy), oregano, cumin, black pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and stir for another minute. Pour in the vinegar and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. This is your sofrito.

When the beans are cooked, discard the bay leaf. Remove and set aside the ham hock and let it cool. Transfer 2 cups of beans to the blender and puree them and return to the pot. Add the sofrito, then the sugar. Pull the meat from the ham hock, leaving behind any white sinew or gristle. Chop the ham into ½-inch pieces and return it to the bean pot.

Stir the beans well and bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so, skimming any foam from the top. Taste for salt and serve.