Austin-Style Black Beans {Cookbook Spotlight}
I have the pleasure of participating in a Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-off with some of my fellow food bloggers. Together we are spotlighting the release of the new cookbook The Homesick Texan by Lisa Fain (pre-order your copy!). Many of you may already have heard of her wonderful blog of the same name The Homesick Texan. Hyperion sent us each a copy of the beautiful cookbook to drool over and during this 4 week journey, we will be cooking the same recipe in our individual kitchens for the first couple of weeks. The third week each blogger cooks up their own pick. We will round off the month with our own reviews of the cookbook and the food. To view the complete list of participating bloggers and follow their scrumptious dishes and thoughts of the book, visit Heather’s announcement page on Girlichef.
This week, we are all jumping in head first with Austin-Style Black Beans and/or Pork Tacos, Gas Station Style. I had already gone grocery shopping and only had ingredients for the beans, so I did just one recipe this week. BUT, don’t fret, if you would like to see reviews of the pork tacos, check out what the other bloggers are doing by visiting the Girlichef roundup.
These beans were fabulous and full of flavor. They were so very easy, and the only planning needed was time. Make sure you begin 2 1/2 to 3 hours ahead of serving time. The flavors in the beans were of lime, cilantro and a bit of heat on the back end. Thumbs up from the hubs. The flavors work together to make them perfect, like everything has been thought out to the very end. Here are the beans, before I added the water for simmering.
It’s hard to believe that something so simple as black beans is making me look forward to the next few weeks as I get to cook my way through a few more recipes. Please join me and the other bloggers through this cookbook review. It’ll be a good one!
From The Homesick Texan Cookbook
Ingredients
- 1 lb. dried black beans
- 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
- ½ c. cilantro, divided
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- 1 Tbs. tomato paste
- ¼ c. lime juice
- salt, to taste
Directions
- Rinse and sort through beans, discarding any stones or shriveled beans.
- Place beans in a large pot and cover with 1" of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the beans in a colander in the sink.
- Return the empty pot to the stove and on medium-low heat, warm the vegetable oil. Add onions and carrots to pot and cook until onions are translucent, stirring occasionally, ~8 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
- Return beans to the pot along with the chipotles and half of the cilantro. Cover with 2" water, bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low and simmer uncovered for ~1½ hours.
- Add remaining cilantro, cumin, tomato paste, and lime juice. Season to taste with salt. Cook uncovered for another 30 minutes, or until beans are tender all the way through (will vary depending on the freshness of your beans). When done, smash a few beans against the side of the pot with a spoon to thicken, if you wish. Stir and serve.
This post is part of The Homesick Texan Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at Girlichef.
Your beans look like they turned out fabulously
I’m so happy to have you cooking along through this delicious cookbook, Miranda!
I’m so happy I got in right on time!
Nice looking serving of Austin style black beans. I love them. we will be making those again soon.
They were delicious!
Those beans were delicious…I still have some leftover, so I’m going to make some black bean nachos for dinner tonight.
I ended up halving the recipe, which worked out to a good serving amount, but will make again for sure.
the beans look amazing!! great pics!!
Thank you!
ha…i just saw bo’s note…i made black bean nachos for my hubs for dinner the other night…and for my lunch today. i am obsessed by these
yours look really tasty…i love that we are all cooking the same thing, but our presentation and style are all so different!
That is really exciting for me too. I love seeing everyone’s presentations!
You know that if the simplest recipe tastes addictively good, then there’s surely more awesomeness to follow! These sound delicious!
I can’t wait for the mac and cheese and sopapillas next week!
I loved the beans also, and I’m glad to have found your awesome blog through this adventure.
Thanks for sharing..
That is one of the best parts of this, discovering new blogs!
The beans were really delicious and your photos are great–so colorful!
Happy to be cooking along with you.
Thank you! This is so great to be joining all of you!
Miranda, these look wonderful! I’m sad that the black beans didn’t happen in this round of the cooking adventure, but you give me so much to look forward to when we do! Yum!
I couldn’t do the tacos, so I guess we evened each other out!
My only complaint about the beans was that there weren’t any leftovers after lunch and dinner! Next time I make them, which will probably be this week, I’m going to have to double the recipe!
Look forward to cooking with you the next couple of weeks!
Loved the flavors of these beans, definitely a go-to bean recipe.
I too loved these beans (and I’m not a huge bean fan). They look wonderful! Looking forward to cooking with you this month
Same here Danielle!