Blue Corn Cafe experiment, night one

Our first Blue Corn Cafe dinner was a big success! All my guys cleaned their plates and gave me two thumbs up.

I was happy with how everything turned out. The enchiladas and rice were very yummy. I will definitely make both again. I like this red sauce a lot, so it'll be a good staple to have around. I plan on using some to make chicken tortilla soup this week.

What I really loved the most was the black beans. These were by far the best black beans I've ever tasted! Really delicious and perfectly seasoned. I had to modify the recipe slightly due to the altitude difference (the restaurant recipes are all high altitude). Here is the recipe:

2 cups dried black beans

2 qts cold water

1/8 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup diced onions

4 TBS chopped fresh cilantro

1/8 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp granulated garlic

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp celery seed

2 tsp salt (to taste at the end of cooking)

Bring water and beans to a boil in a large pot. Add all ingredients except salt. Put a lid on and simmer on med-low for about 2 hours. Add more water if needed (I didn't need to). My beans cooked for exactly 2 hours and they were tender. Add the salt and puree half the mixture with a hand blender. I ended up blending most of it and everyone like it that way.

The beans seem runny at first, but they thickened up as they cooled off.

You can use pinto beans instead, just omit the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and do not puree.

Black beans are good for you. This is a healthy recipe, so give it a try. :)