Smoky Black Beans (Page 267)

• Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - 7pm
• Location: North Conway, NH
• Kitchen: The "Talbot" House Kitchen
• Sous Chefs: Owen, Tibor, Jeffrey
• "Kitchen Bitch": John
• Dining Companions: Jacob, Mike, Vero, Vigleik, Chris, Andre, and 16 other Mathematicians!
• Recipe Rating: A-

I picked these beans to go with our Mexican food feast last night. They were really excellent! I got a few skeptical looks from some members of my cooking team when I added the orange juice to the pot of beans, but I think they all came around about the OJ when they tasted them! This recipe is extremely quick, since it starts with canned black beans, but it still has a great hearty, rich flavor. The smokiness contributed by the chipotle chiles is wonderful! We used an immersion blender rather than a potato masher to partially puree our beans, and that worked perfectly.

For dinner we had: Build your own tacos with ground beef, shredded garlic-lime chicken, black beans, and all the fixings, plus tortilla soup and Mexican rice, with baked apples for dessert. We really made a lot of food, so I think we will be having a taco bar for lunch today too!

Here's a picture of some of the guys in the Talbot "seminar room."

A month or so ago I was having dinner with a woman who is a PhD student in experimental physics. We were talking about the curiosities of being women in male-dominated fields. She said that the key to success as a woman in such an environment is to remember, "They are your colleagues. They are not your friends." I was so shocked when she said that, and for weeks her words echoed through my head. Last night around midnight I was standing in the bathroom with Mike, John, and Jacob, all of us in either our pajamas or our swimsuits, brushing our teeth. I looked around and all I could think was, "Yes, they are my friends. And that's a good thing." It's nice to be here, surrounded by friends, learning together and having a good time!

It's early now and not so many people are awake. Mike is still sleeping. I predict he will be pissy at me when he wakes up -- in the middle of the night I (accidentally) elbowed him in the head! Whoops!