Honey-Rum Black Beans

My family LOVES this recipe!  I’ve made it a few times and as with most soups and chili, they always taste better the next day.  I followed the recipe exactly as it is listed, but the beans were still a bit toothsome, so I baked it longer.  What I got was a wonderfully delicious batch of very thick and tasty beans.  Making them again this weekend for a memorial day celebration…by ourselves because of social distancing.

This taste great. However I can see where people were having problems with the recipe. I used 2 cups chicken broth and baked at 400° covered for 40 minutes, and uncovered for 25 minutes, until excess liquid cooked off.

i have substituted Opas Green Chili Sausage (diced), added oregano from the garden, and adjusted all quantities somewhat (sorry, always forget to measure).  I always use canned black beans (drained and rinsed) ;because our water is so hard that i have cooked black beans for two days and they would still bounce.  Of the several rums i have tried, Myers Dark Rum is consistently my favorite for this recipe no matter which sausage i use.  Cooking everything stove-top allows the rum to reduce some, as well as the stock.  Cover and simmer long enough for flavors to come together, adjust your seasonings, and you’ll have nothing but a savory party going on in your mouth!  I give this recipe 5 stars because i would never have thought to put these ingredients together without Bobby. No matter how many fabulous variations I’ve come up with due to available ingredients or prep time, he still gets all the credit. 

I make beans often. I made this recipe and was very disappointed. I followed the recipe as written. I found the rum was much too strong and too much liquid in the sauce. Very disappointed.

Used can black beans so I had to adjust the recipe a little, also left out the chorizo because I didn’t have any but the flavor was still great!

I have always enjoyed watching you cook especially for your wife, I thought that was a romantic touch. I did have one statement, I was not sure how to take a comment you made regarding the rum used for the black beans. Your statement,” I have a bottle of Haitain rum of all places”. What did you mean by saying that? Despite all the negativeness that has been told haiti does have alot to offer and the best rum does come from there. Although it is considered a poor country, it is home to many and we do have alot to offer.

You can use canned beans, just omit the chicken broth entirely and add a chicken base instead. I decided to make this recipe for a cookout the same night and did not have time to soak the beans. I used canned beans and it turned out fantastic!

This recipe is set up to be used with dry black beans which are soaked, not canned black beans. I made a double batch. I also cooked the black beans for a few hours after soaking, however, this was probably a mistake, but Bobby’s recipe is not clear on this point. As others have noticed they got soupy beans….mine also were soupy after one hour of cooking….perhaps they would have soaked up the stock if I didn’t cook the beans….anyway, no big deal….I just scooped out the excess with a ladle and saved it which made an excellent base for a soup later….the beans however were still soupy, so I took the back of a spoon and pushed down once all over the dish to break up some of the beans and release some of the starches which thickened things up right away.after a little stir. Another note, with a double batch, do not double the rum….I used the amount indicated for one batch and it was still almosts too much. I reckon this recipe would work without the rum if you don’t like that flavor. I made this the day before a big party…I re-heated and stirred some additional stock in to loosen it up and it seemed to be a big hit with the party goers. I rated this recipe good because the methodology was not clear regarding “prepared” black beans, but otherwise the end result was tasty and I would try it again but maybe making some slight adjustments that are more to my taste (i.e. a little less rum and a little more spice or chorizo).

I agree with Deb. I don’t understand how people can arbitrarily make the decision to substitute canned beans and then complain that the recipe is bad. Don’t use canned beans. There IS a difference. It DOES matter. It IS important. It ISN’T the same. I have made this recipe and it requires planning ahead in order to soak the beans overnight and then cook them until soft. Don’t skip this step and try to cheat by using canned beans. It won’t be the same. Also, there are a lot of complaints about it being too soupy. A pound of beans and 4 cups of liquid cooked for about an hour isn’t going to give you a soupy product. But if you need to reduce the liquid a little more then transfer the beans to an uncovered pot (not a dutch oven) and cook down the liquid a little. The end result will be awesome.

I don’t understand the negative comments about the recipe as a result of using “CANNED” beans. If you read the recipe it calls for using Black Beans soaked overnight and cooked until tender. Where did anyone get “canned beans”?’
Spices, beans, balance…everything works in this recipe if you follow it.