Bobby Flay’s Honey-Rum Baked Black Beans

Chef Bobby Flay cooked these baked black beans, spiked with chorizo and rum, on one of his television shows, Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, to compete with a more-traditional batch of Carolina baked beans. We adore the results. If you bring them along to a summer party, reheat before serving or bring them in a crock-pot and plug it in when you get to the party. Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay’s Throwdown! by Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas and Miriam Garron (Clarkson Potter, 2010).
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Bobby Flay’s Honey-Rum Baked Black Beans
Makes: 16 servings, about 1/2 cup each

Active Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours (not including bean-soaking time)

NUTRITION PROFILE
High fiber | Low saturated fat | Low cholesterol | Heart healthy | Gluten free |

View Our Nutrition Guidelines » INGREDIENTS
1 pound dried black beans (about 2 3/4 cups), picked over and soaked in cold water for 8 hours (or see Tip)
1 tablespoon canola oil
8 ounces dried chorizo (see Note), cut into small dice (about 2 cups) (I used 2 smoked turkey legs)
1 medium Spanish onion, cut into small dice
1 medium carrot, cut into small dice
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dark rum (I used Gosling)
2 cups homemade chicken stock or canned reduced-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed
1 cup Mesa Grill Barbecue Sauce or your favorite barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, divided
1/4 cup clover honey
3 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or more taste

PREPARATION
Drain beans. Place in a large saucepan and add cold water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, partially cover the pot and simmer until very tender, 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

I’m not saying this was the best method but I took the beans out and boiled them with the smoked turkey legs and 2 poblanos. It was a pain. It would have been better if I had made the stock in advance and then cooked the beans in the stock.

Preheat oven to 325ºF.
Heat oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add chorizo and cook, stirring, until golden brown and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.
Reduce heat to medium, add onion and carrot to the pan and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add rum, bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add this mixture to the beans.
Add 2 cups stock (or broth), barbecue sauce, 1/4 cup cilantro, honey, molasses, brown sugar and the reserved chorizo to the beans. Mix gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a large baking dish and cover. Bake for 30 minutes.
Check to see if the bean mixture is dry; if it is, add a little more stock (or broth). Bake for 30 minutes more. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more to thicken slightly.
Garnish the beans with the remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
TIPS & NOTES
Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Tip: To soak beans using a “quick-soak” method, place in a large saucepan with enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.
Note: Dried, Spanish-style chorizo is a seasoned, fully cooked, smoked pork sausage. Find it near other cured sausages in well-stocked super markets or online at tienda.com.
NUTRITION
Per serving: 261 calories; 7 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 12 mg cholesterol; 33 g carbohydrates; 12 g added sugars; 10 g protein; 6 g fiber; 418 mg sodium; 443 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Folate (26% daily value), Magnesium (16% dv)

Carbohydrate Servings: 2

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 carbohydrate (other), 1 medium-fat meat

Bourbon Salted Caramel Candy

Bourbon Salted Caramel Candy
A Spicy Perspective

2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups California cream
1 cup salted California butter (2 sticks)
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup bourbon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Course or flake sea salt

Place the sugars, heavy cream, butter, corn syrup and bourbon in a large sauce pot. Attach a candy thermometer to the edge of the pot with the tip touching the ingredients, then place over medium heat.

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat to medium- low. Allow the mixture to simmer until it reaches 245-260 degrees F and is the desired color you like for caramel. If the temperature starts rising faster than the caramel is browning, lower the heat even more to give it time to caramelize.

Meanwhile, line a 9 X 13 inch baking dish with parchment paper and cut the corners so it folds into the dish neatly. Spray the parchment with non-stick cooking spray. Then prepare a cup of ice water to test the caramel. Once the caramel reaches at least 245 degrees F, use a spoon to drop a little bit of molten caramel into the ice water. Lift it out and test for texture. It should be firm enough to cut, yet soft enough to chew. If needed, simmer the caramel a little longer, but do not allow it to go over 260 degrees F. Once it’s ready, stir in the vanilla extract.

Carefully pour the molten caramel into the prepared dish and allow it to cool completely. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the dish in the refrigerator. Once cooled, lift the whole sheet of caramel candy out of the dish by the edges of the parchment paper and cut into 1 inch squares. Sprinkle generously with sea salt, then wrap each candy in small pieces of wax paper.

NOTE: “California” butter and cream are butter and cream that are made in California.

Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter + Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter + Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ambitious Kitchen

Prep time
2 hours
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
2 hours 10 mins

Nutella is stuffed between a hazelnut brown butter flavor enhanced chocolate chip cookie then sprinkled with sea salt.

Recipe type: Cookies
Serves: 2 dozen cookies

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips.

Chill your dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or place in freezer for 30 minutes if you are super eager, although I cannot promise the same results if you do this.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled Nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball — it doesn’t have to be perfectly rolled! Make sure that the Nutella is not seeping out of the dough. Add more dough if necessary. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten with your hand VERY gently. (Really only the tops need to be flattened a bit!)

Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

If dough is hard once chilled, place out to thaw for 20-30 minutes or until you can work with it.