Willie's Venezuelan Breakfast

Willie’s Venezuelan Breakfast

Prep Time:

20 mins

Cooking Time:

Serves:

I always surprise my friends with my Venezuelan breakfast: duck eggs, avocado, hot sauce and a heavy grating of cacao. The idea raises eyebrows, but everyone agrees it’s delicious. On the farm I would have the black beans on the side, in England it is my cacao bread.

Ingredients

For the black beans:

4 tbsp. olive oil

2 onions, diced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 red peppers, seeds removed, finely chopped

300g soaked and briefly boiled black beans

About 300ml chicken stock

2-3 tbsp. 100% cacao, grated. Suggestion, Cuban Black100% Baracoan Cacao

To serve:

Cacao, roasted pepper and chilli harissa (see my recipe)

12 eggs, I always try to find duck eggs

12 slices brown bread

2 or 3 ripe avocados

4 tbsp. grated 100% cacao Suggestion, Colombian Los Llanos

Method

To prepare the beans, heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and peppers and fry until soft.

Tip in the black beans and pour over enough chicken stock to cover. Simmer for 1 ½ – 2 hours or until soft. Stir in the cacao and season with salt and black pepper (it’s important, when cooking beans, to add salt only at the end).

When you and your breakfast guests are ready to eat, heat a little chilli oil in a frying pan and fry the eggs.

Toast the bread and, if necessary, reheat the beans. Halve the avocados, remove the stones, then peel and slice the flesh onto the hot toast. Serve the fried eggs on the avocado, grating a little cacao over the top, with a couple of spoonfuls of black beans, the harissa and several more slices of avocado on the side.

Willie’s tip: if you use dried beans, as I always prefer to, soak them overnight, then drain them, cover with fresh water and bring to the boil. Boil for 3-5 minutes, then drain again, and they are ready to cook with. About 125g dried beans makes the 300g you need. I always prepare more and keep them in the fridge for the next few days’ breakfasts.