Chapin

Today I made Chapin for breakfast, which transported me right back to Guatemala. Chapin (for those who aren't familiar with it) is a traditional meal in Guatemala. It is often eaten for breakfast and sometime dinner (the main meal is usually lunch). Chapin consists of several items....eggs, fried plantains, frijoles negros volteados, queso fresco, fruit, salsa and a bread of some sort.

I had received the black bean recipes a few weeks ago and just didn't get around to making it. There are actually three ways of eating then as you go through the stages until you reach the final product for Chapin.

1) Caldo de frijols (broth of bean). You cook black beans overnight in the crock pot with a whole onion and a whole head of garlic. Serve with rice, sour cream and croutons.

2) Frijoles colados (beans strained). You blend the beans to a puree and then mix with sauteed onions and garlic. Serve with eggs or however you want to eat them (they are kind of runny).

3) Frijoles negros volteados (black beans turned). You saute some onion and then add the black bean puree with some oil and stir....and stir.....and stir until you think your arm is going to fall off. Once it drys out and forms a ball, it is ready.

Spoon on a plate, add some scrambled eggs with salsa on top, a few pieces of fried plantain, a tortilla, the cheese (I used cheddar since I don't like queso fresco). It totally took me back to sitting in the Italian restaurant in Panajachel in the morning with the team waiting for our Chapin breakfast. Yum! I made a big batch of bean puree and plan on eating it all week....its soooo good!