The theme on which our chef will offer a succulent variation, today’s secret ingredient is…
…insert dramatic pause…
….insert stoney sideways glances…
…insert smoke…
BLACK BEANS! I recently saw a link to the No Meath Athlete recipe for black bean brownies. (AKA BBB) I have to admit, the motor of my curiosity lawn mower was revved. I had to attempt this.
Step one: Determining which ingredients I already had on hand. I was shocked to discover that living peacefully on the top shelf of my pantry was a sack of flour. And right next to him? A box of sugar! Imagine that! I wasn’t sure if these were exactly what I needed, so I did what any logical person would do. I texted my mom.
In addition to asking her if I could use confectioners sugar, I produced this gem of a question: ”Is a hazelnut an actual nut?” Hey, it’s a valid question! I’ve had so many hazelnut flavored things that I thought it was more akin to vanilla extract. (Turns out that it is an actual nut.)
Step two: Follow the recipe, which mostly involved combining the ingredients. It was at this point that I realized that the sugar I bought was actually a box of individual sugar packages. Like the kind that you see in a restaurant. Whoops! I tore open each package and put it in a measuring cup. Half my stuff was already mixed. There was no turning back!
Step three: Avoid squealing with delight over the fact that you are making brownies out of black beans. I had grand plans to feed these to a lot of people without telling them the secret ingredient. (Yes, coworkers, I’m looking at you.) In order for that to happen, I had to squash the urge to blab all over my facebook about my brownies.
Step four: Take the brownies out of the oven and immediately eat a piece. I had oven mitts on both hands when I popped that first piece in my mouth. I was eager to taste my masterpiece!
The verdict: Not bad! (Which also means, not as amazing as I’d hoped, but hey, look at who the chef was.) I think you can’t taste the black beans. My brownies weren’t very sweet, but that could have something to do with the fact that I didn’t put in as much sugar as was called for. (See step two above.) Since the brownies were mostly healthy, I considered putting frosting on top to pump them up, but I was too lazy to go to the store again in order to buy another ingredient.
My houseguests this weekend, however, weren’t to keen on the brownies. (Maybe it’s because the brownies were a couple days old?) My friend Mark tasted a brownie, marched over to the trash, and immediately spat it out. He then proceeded to search my bare pantry and fridge for something that he could eat to get the nasty taste out of his mouth. Oh well.
I am tempted to try this recipe again. Everyone at No Meath Athlete raved about how good they are, so perhaps I’d do better on my second take.
With that, I bid you good eating!
Would you ever eat BBB? What recipes or foods that sound weird have you tried that actually tasted good? Chicken-fried fries still top my list of foods that sound weird but taste good.*
