REVIEW: Fiery Chipotle Baked Beans

[Dewey]

I made these yesterday. They were VERY good, the flavor of the chipotle pepper powder is fabulous. Even the smell of the stuff is great! I opened the bottle when I got home from the store and just sat there sniffing it. DH came in and wanted to know why I was "snorting" the spices! :p Then he took a sniff and agreed that it smelled wonderful. I didn't have a dutch oven, so I put it into my crock pot and put it on high for a few hours, which seemed to work out fine. We had them again today for lunch and the leftovers were just as good. A definite repeater.

[little_bopeep]

Are they really "take-yer-face-off hot," or is "fiery" just a reference to the use of the chipotle?

;)

[Peggy]

Originally posted by little_bopeep
Are they really "take-yer-face-off hot," or is "fiery" just a reference to the use of the chipotle?

;)

Dewey, I would also be interested in knowing the degree of "heat" in this recipe.

Peggy

[SueK]

Dewey- thanks for the review! These were #1 on my list to try! I am also interested in hearing about the "heat" level. I love spicy foods, but I know DD & DH won't eat them if they're too hot.

Thanks!

[Carolina68]

This one is at the top of my "to try list", dh loves hot and spicy food, in fact he adds hot sauce to most everything he eats, so I am anxious to hear how hot this one was. I was going to make it over the weekend, but ended up dong the baked triple beans from a year or so ago.

[Dewey]

Ya know, after I posted, I thought that I probably should have said just HOW HOT it was. But that would mean I'd have to fess up...

OK, I seem to have a problem just following a recipe. I always have to doctor it up a bit. Since I was using this recipe as the main dish (along with a salad, and Ugly Bread, from Jan/Feb 02) I added more of the sausage (oh, I didn't want to use chorizo, too high in fat -- coulnd't find a low-fat chorizo, if that exists, sounds like an oxymoron to me :D ), so I bought turkey kielbasa. The recipe called for 4 oz of sausage, but I added the whole kielbasa (14 oz.) Then, since I knew I had more sausage than called for, I added just a bit extra of the "saucy" ingredients. By the time I got to the chipotle pepper powder, I was on a bit of a cooking "high" (you know that feeling when you just get really happy to be in the kitchen, and you decide that you don't really need to measure?) so I probably ended up putting in about 2 1/2 teaspoons of the pepper powder. Then, while adding the black beans, I realized I had two cans of old black beans, that needed to be used soon or donated to the Smithsonian. So I ended up adding a extra can of black beans (along with the kidney and pintos called for). So, to sum up: I upped the chipotle pepper power to 2 1/2 tsp., upped all saucy ingredients to a little more than 1/3 c., added 1 extra can of black beans, and slightly more than tripled the sausage.

The result: VERY spicy. When you took a bite, you thought "Mmmmmmm", then you started to feel the heat in your mouth and thought "I hope it doesn't get any hotter..." It was fine for us, but for people that aren't "chile heads" I'd recommend cutting back on the chipotle pepper powder. I should probably mention that the only chipotle pepper powder I found was "Chef Paul Prudhomme's", I think he's that Cajun cook guy, so I don't know if that meant the powder was any more spicy that others might be (the ingredients of the powder listed only chipotle peppers, no added stuff). I'm not certain if they can manipulate the "Heat Factor" when manufacturing the stuff, just a thought. Oh, and one more comment (those that have more refined sensibilities, stop reading here): Although it was hot in the mouth, it wasn't the kind of hot that burned "going in and coming out". OK, 'nuff said.

[wallycat]

Is this in the March issue--that I haven't seen yet!!!!;)
Sounds yummy....can't wait.

[Peggy]

wallycat - Yes, it is in the March issue. I'm thinking about trying it at our Supper Club meeting this weekend.

Peggy