Refried Black Beans

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Welcome to the newly rebranded "Braised & Burnt" cooking blog! From now on every new blog post will also feature a related drawing from Lacie Laurendine. Who is a very talented artist as you can clearly tell.

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Why don't more restaurants serve refried black beans? I don't know either. I decided to take the matter into my own hands and make them myself. Honestly not that different than refried pinto beans. Still pretty damned delicious though and it adds some contrast to the plate. 

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Refried Black Beans

• 2 cans Black Beans rinsed
• 1 tablespoon Bacon Fat
• 1/3 cup diced Onion 
• 1/3 cup Chicken Stock
• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground Chipotle Pepper
• 1/4 cup Green Onion diced
• Crumbed Cotija Cheese

1. Add the bacon fat to a medium saucepan and heat until hot. 
2. Stir in onions and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes.
3. Add the rinsed black beans, spices, and salt to the pan. Aggressively stir to mash up the beans. 
4. Continue cooking for about 7 minutes. Add chicken stock to beans to get desired thickness. 
5. Once the beans resemble a chunky paste serve in a bowl and top with cotija cheese and green onions. Enjoy!

Matcha Honey Simple Syrup

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Ah matcha, the Japanese green tea powder that was once reserved for sacred and special occasions. Now every food and mommy blogger from here (wherever "here" is for you) to Tokyo has bastardized this once special ingredient. Mixing it into everything from cupcakes to dog treats. So I decided to jump on this bandwagon of cultural appropriation through food and make my own matcha recipe. 

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I'm all for exploring other cultures through food and regional ingredients, but this matcha thing has gone too far people. We get it, you enjoy mixing some into your kale and unhappiness smoothies every morning, but that doesn't mean you get to put it in everything. Once the TODAY show highlights an ingredient, it's no longer relevant to food culture, the ingredient has reached maximum cultural saturation. 

"But Brian! If you're so upset with so many people using matcha like goddam vanilla extract why are you making something with it?" Because, it gave me excuse to act like a typical blogger and use matcha as a vehicle to be upset at a bunch of people who technically did nothing wrong. 

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Matcha Honey Simple Syrup

• 2 teaspoons Matcha
• 1/2 cup Artisan Water (nah just kidding cold tap water is fine)
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Honey

1. Add all the ingredients to medium sized sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally. 
3. Take off heat, and let cool. Store in an airtight container. 
4. Mix into a cocktail of your choosing or making of your choice (I can't come up with all the ideas here). Enjoy!