Hell's Kitchen Spicy Black Beans

I'm finally getting back to cooking after a two-week adjustment period to being back in school. I still don't have my schedule down and have been eating a lot of Punch and PB&J. (Although let's be honest: I ate Punch 3 times a week in the summer.) But I digress.

Whenever a visitor is in town, we usually end up at Hell's Kitchen, which is generally pretty delicious but sometimes a bit too buttery/egg-y/creamy for me. (Your jam, Megan!) Anyway, I love their black beans and so borrowed the Hell's Kitchen cookbook from Steve's sister to make up a batch. My favorite food blogger, Heidi Swanson, once wrote that she typically makes a pot of beans every Sunday to eat throughout the week. Pretty sure I'm going to be doing the same thing with these black beans...so. delicious. Good job, Hell's Kitchen!

Spicy Black Beans
Note: I halved the recipe, and in so doing, went out on a limb and experimented with quantities of ingredients! (I never deter from exact measures usually, but was feeling adventurous.) Also, I replaced the butter and chicken broth (noted in recipe); as I was doing this, it reminded me of a time at the Chicago Diner when a friend asked for "real" cheese, to which the waiter replied (huffily), "Everything we serve here is real." Not so for buttery sticks and no chicken base--fake fake fake! But I'm okay with that in this case. Again with the digression.

1 pound dried black beans (2 cups)
6 cups rich chicken broth or water (I used Better Than Bouillon's "No Chicken" base.)
3/4 c. (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I used 1 teaspoon of "Buttery Sticks" vegan butter. I actually think the butter could be omitted entirely.)
3/4 c. minced white onion (I used a bit more)
4 tablespoons Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce (recipe below)
2 T. dark chili powder
2 T. ground cumin
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
2 t. sea salt

Soak the beans for 4 hours or overnight. Place soaked beans into a large pot and add the broth/water, making sure the beans are covered by at least two inches. Add everything except the salt. (I didn't read the recipe carefully enough and salted the hell out of 'em in the beginning. The result = SALTY beans. Too salty. Salt afterward!) Heat to a boil over medium heat (STIR so the beans don't get stuck to the bottom of the pan), and then simmer uncovered (stirring a lot) for 1 to 1.5 hours, checking frequently to see if they need additional water. Beans should be firm but chewable.

Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce
(Note: I did this to taste with the measurements--it seems flexible enough. Also, I didn't have Rose's lime juice, so just used a lemon. Totally fine.)
2 T. peanut oil
1/3 c. honey
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle peppers, with adobo sauce
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1/3 c. Rose's lime juice (any citrus/acid is probably fine)
1/4 c. coarsely chopped cilantro
3 T. coarse-ground mustard (I used straight-up Dijon)
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 T. black pepper
1 T. ground cumin
1 T. sea salt

Put everything into a food processor or blender and combine. (I actually shook everything together in a jar, but that only worked because I'd processed the chipotle peppers a few days before.)

Put sauce in a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.