This unusual recipe for black beans has it all…they are rich, spicy and full of flavor! They’ll make your taste buds crazy!
As usual, I couldn’t resist the newest cookbook I spied at Costco a few weeks ago! Cookbooks are to me like chocolate is to a chocoholic or shoes to a “shoeaholic”! I guess you could say it’s like an addiction. Ok…so maybe it is an addiction!! I just love them…all 1,500 plus of them I’ve collected….and I always see more “I just can’t live without”!!!
My love for cooking started at a very young age. Our neighbor, Della, (who was like a grandmother to me) and my grandmother taught me how to cook when I was tall enough to stand on a stool and stir at the stove. When I was a young child, I would cut recipes out of my mom’s Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Day, McCalls and Ladies Home Journal magazines, paste them onto notebook paper and organize them into categories in notebooks. For Christmas when I was 12 years old, my mother gave me my first cookbook, the original McCall’s Cookbook…and the rest is history!! It’s really fun looking back at some of my old cookbooks (and those scraps of cut out recipes) and seeing what memories they trigger…like Christmas when I was 12 years old. It’s a kick to look at the notes I made in the old books when I was a kid and how my cooking knowledge and handwriting have changed! What recipes did I use? Who gave me the book? What dental meeting was Joel attending when he bought that one for me? Or where were we? I guess to me, my cookbooks are sort of “like old friends and travel logs combined”. Are any of you “freaks” about cookbooks as I am? If you share my “cookbook addiction”, please tell me all about it in the comment section of the blog. I would love to know what your favorite cookbooks are.
This is one of my new “most interesting”cookbooks!
The latest addition to my cookbook collection is “Douglas Rodriguez’s Latin Flavors on the Grill”. (Now who would buy that one but me? Costco probably sold 1.) I’ve already been inspired by 3 of his recipes and have 5 more bookmarked. I have made his Rum-Barbecued Black Beans (with a lot of changes, including the name…now, Black Beans with Chorizo and Rum) many times for company. I’ve had lots of requests for the recipe; so I guess most people found it tasty. We’re having friends over this evening for the traditional July 4th hamburger cookout. I’m making it as a side to go with the grilled hamburgers, cole slaw and grilled corn on the cob with Santa Fe Butter (will post). I’ll make a double recipe so I can take the leftovers to my brother and sister-in-law, Stuart and Patti’s, house for dinner tomorrow night. He and his wife, Patti, went to Rockport (on the Texas coast) fishing last weekend; so I think grilled Redfish or Drum will be on the menu.
This recipe has become one of my favorite bean recipes! It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and really rich. It is de-licious! Definitely not low cal, but very interesting!! Of course, I have put my own twist on the recipe. I left out the Cachucha Chiles (I looked them up, and it says they are a must for Cuban Black Beans, but I haven’t found them yet; so they’re gone!), I added 2 more ounces of Chorizo (The package I use is a 10 ounce package of Mexican/Spanish style pork sausage; so there’s no point wasting the extra 2 ounces.), I left out the Tabasco (I think it’s spicy enough without it), I added 1 more can of black beans (it was too soupy) and I think the new name better describes the dish. I also changed the directions, and since I make the beans in my crockpot, I’ve added instructions for that preparation.
As Joel has already requested this recipe three times, I think it has been a hit in the Small family! I hope this recipe is as popular with your friends and family as it has been with mine.
JULY 5th: Remember the double recipe I made for dinner last night so I could take the leftovers to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for dinner tonight??? I think there might be enough left for 3-4 people to have a small taste! So…what will I take?? Oh well! I said it’s a great recipe!
NOW FOR MY CROCKPOT VERSION:
This is the All Clad Crockpot that I love. I love the fact that the liner can be used on the stove; so you don’t have to use a separate pan to brown the ingredients. It is a 7 quart size; so I don’t have to try to squeeze a recipe into one of my smaller crockpots.
One of my crockpots is the All Clad crockpot that allows me to brown everything on the stove in my crockpot liner. It is expensive, but if you use a crockpot often, as I do, it’s a great one to have. (Cuisinart now has one that is a little less expensive. My daughter, Abby, has that one, and is happy with it.) I love mine! It is nice not having to use multiple pots to prepare a recipe that is supposed to be hassle-free. (Ok, so call me “Lazy”, but easy is supposed to be easy!) If you have a regular crockpot, follow the directions for the conventional preparation through adding the beans. When the mixture is well combined, pour the beans into your crockpot liner. Cover and cook the mixture on the low setting up to 4 hours.
These beans are great made the day ahead of serving. If you are going to prepare the beans to serve later, allow the beans to cool completely, then refrigerate them in a tightly covered container. Bring to room temperature, then reheat in a crockpot on low or on the stove on the lowest setting when ready to serve.
For an easy reheat if using a crockpot: When the beans are done, remove the crockpot liner from the heating base. Uncover and cool. When cooled, cover and refrigerate. When ready to reheat, remove from the fridge and bring to room temperature. Reheat, covered, in the crockpot on the low setting.
These are some of the ingredients I use for the recipe. There is also bacon, jalapeno, Chorizo, and dark rum.
This is the dark rum I have been using. It is also great as a cocktail with some Coke and lemon…don’t forget the ice…a Cuba Libra!!!
This is one of the bacons from Costco I regularly use. They have started carrying the Coleman Natural Bacon, which I also like. If I am not going to Costco, I’ll go to Whole Foods and get Pederson’s Organic bacon.
I like this Chorizo, as it’s all natural…whatever that means! It doesn’t seem to be as greasy as some of the other brands I’ve used. Chorizo is a spicy, Spanish sausage. It is also used in lots of Mexican recipes. It is great cooked in eggs for a Mexican breakfast. I love it!
This is the liner to my All Clad Crockpot that can be used on the stove. This is actually on my very favorite stove…my 2 burner stove in our outdoor kitchen. I just love being outdoors!
The Chorizo has been removed from the casing (Some Chorizo has a casing like sausage.) and added to the chopped bacon to brown.
The meats and vegetables have browned and are ready for the rest of the ingredients.
- ¾ cup diced very lean, smoked bacon (I use Da Becca Uncured Applewood Smoked bacon or Coleman's from Costco. I also use Pederson's organic bacon from Whole Foods.)
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh garlic
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh jalapeno that has been seeded (about 1 large or 2 small)
- 10 ounces Chorizo (I try to use Cacique brand Chorizo de Res - not too spicy)
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup prepared mustard (I use French's)
- 1 teaspoon powdered mustard (I use Penzeys, but you could use Coleman's)
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger (I use Penzeys)
- ½ cup dark rum (I usually use Cruzan Premium dark rum)
- 2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup molasses (I use Grandma's Original)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- to taste sea or Kosher salt
- In a large, heavy Dutch Oven over medium-high heat, cook the bacon, stirring often with a wooden spoon, about 7 to 8 minutes, or until it is lightly browned. (If your crockpot liner allows you to use it directly on the stove, use that.)
- Stir in the onion, garlic, and jalapenos. Lower the heat to medium and saute about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the Chorizo and cook about 5 more minutes.
- Add the ketchup, mustard, powdered mustard, ginger, rum, brown sugar, molasses and Worcestershire.
- Increase the heat to medium-high. When the mixture comes to a boil, stir and reduce the heat until the mixture is at a slow simmer.
- Stir the beans into the sauce mixture until thoroughly combined. Cover and slowly simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour.
- Check the seasonings and add salt if necessary.
- CROCKPOT DIRECTIONS:
- Follow the directions through mixing in the beans.
- Pour the bean mixture into the crock pot liner.
- Cover and cook on the low setting up to 4 hours.
I have been looking for this recipe! I found it (or something very similar) in a magazine a few years back and in my many moves it became lost. I haven’t tried your version yet but am soooo excited to find it. I’ve got my fingers crossed!
I am not sure what your recipe was like, but everyone I have made this one for has loved it! Good luck with it! Please let me know what you think.