Black Beans and Brown Rice

noel · Post by **noel** » November 10, 2003, 5:14 pm

Not sure how many of you have been to the restaurant called 'Houston's' (http://www.houstons.com/), but I'd highly recommend it. With your entree, you can order a black bean and brown rice side that is delicious. I can cook well enough to follow a recipe, but I have no idea what's in it etc. It tasted somewhat sweet, and was delicious. I'm curious if anyone has a recipe along these lines, or perhaps knows the actual recipe. Thanks in advance.

Sirensa · Post by **Sirensa** » November 10, 2003, 5:43 pm

I've never been to that restaurant - but I like black beans and rice.

But I make them from a box - Zatarain's Black Beans and Rice is yummy!

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » November 10, 2003, 8:36 pm

Interestingly enough, they don't have a location in Houston...

edit: even more interesting, I traveled to Phoenix today for work, and when we went to dinner, across the street was, of all things, Houston's. Think we're going to go try it. Thanks for the tip Aranuil!

Swiiter · Post by **Swiiter** » November 11, 2003, 5:50 pm

Interestingly enough, they don't have a location in Houston...

Did they close them down or something? I know the one on Westheimer and Wilcrest just closed down, but I thought they still had two locations left. I don't really love the place, but my girlfriend and some of my friends swear by it. They do have an awesome Veggie burger and their Ribs are really good too.

Don't know if you've tried them, but Benjy's in the Village has some really great food, as does Ruggles, Mark's American Cuisine (expensive) and Mi Luna (awesome Tappas and margaritas).

laneela · Post by **laneela** » November 13, 2003, 10:20 am

Houstons in Ft Lauderdale and Miami used to be some of my old fav's but I didn't know they had any in Socal. I'll have to see if there's any in OC. They used to have this amazing brownie desert with kalua, vanilla ice cream and walnuts which they replaced with another brownie desert but if you ask them to make it the old way, they shouldn't have a problem with it. I highly recommend it to brownie sundae lovers. Also - try their buttermilk ranch on their salads...

As for rice and black beans, I have a good recipe but it's definately not a sweet black bean. It's a great cuban recipe if you're interested...

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » November 13, 2003, 1:48 pm

Swiiter wrote:
Interestingly enough, they don't have a location in Houston...
Did they close them down or something? I know the one on Westheimer and Wilcrest just closed down, but I thought they still had two locations left. I don't really love the place, but my girlfriend and some of my friends swear by it. They do have an awesome Veggie burger and their Ribs are really good too.

The website Aranuil listed didn't list any locations in Houston. I have seen the "Houston's Restaurant" on Kirby near 59 but I didn't think that was part of the chain.

Don't know if you've tried them, but Benjy's in the Village has some really great food, as does Ruggles, Mark's American Cuisine (expensive) and Mi Luna (awesome Tappas and margaritas).

Been meaning to try Benjy's some time. My favorite restaurant in the area (Chuy's on Richmond) recently closed unexpectedly; I'm eagerly anticipating the new Chuy's to be opened on Shepherd in December. The Chuy's on Westheimer is teh sukc because of the parking hassles.

noel · Post by **noel** » March 19, 2004, 8:38 pm

I realize this is a super old thread, but I was at Houston's last night for dinner, and spoke to my waitress about what was in the black beans and brown rice dish. I also did a bit of my own observing.

The dish is just regular brown rice, with black beans in a black bean looking 'sauce' with some very finely chopped red onion on top, so the real trick is figuring out how the black beans are prepared. The waitress wouldn't really get specific, but she did say that part of the 'sauce' the black beans are in is made with the icing from their brownies, which also contains espresso beans. She claimed that the icing is what gave them their unique flavor.

Any thoughts?

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » March 19, 2004, 8:48 pm

Aranuil wrote:I realize this is a super old thread, but I was at Houston's last night for dinner, and spoke to my waitress about what was in the black beans and brown rice dish. I also did a bit of my own observing.

The dish is just regular brown rice, with black beans in a black bean looking 'sauce' with some very finely chopped red onion on top, so the real trick is figuring out how the black beans are prepared. The waitress wouldn't really get specific, but she did say that part of the 'sauce' the black beans are in is made with the icing from their brownies, which also contains espresso beans. She claimed that the icing is what gave them their unique flavor.

Any thoughts?

So what kind of icing is on the brownies? just like an espresso/chocolate icing?...

noel · Post by **noel** » March 19, 2004, 9:10 pm

Yessir, exactly. They're sweet, but also mildly spicy. I apologize, but I can't place the spice. ><

I am encouraged to know that the only hard part of the recipe is figuring out how the beans are prepared.

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » March 19, 2004, 10:09 pm

Odds on cocoa, some brown sugar, cumin and roasted chili + espresso (or espresso liqueur)...sent you a recipe to depart from...

noel · Post by **noel** » March 19, 2004, 10:12 pm

You're a god.

Lalanae · Post by **Lalanae** » March 22, 2004, 7:35 pm

Tenuvil wrote:Interestingly enough, they don't have a location in Houston...

edit: even more interesting, I traveled to Phoenix today for work, and when we went to dinner, across the street was, of all things, Houston's. Think we're going to go try it. Thanks for the tip Aranuil!

Avtually they do have Houston's restaurants in Houston. One down the street from where I used to live. Never been there before. One of those places we always said we should go, but never quite made it. I had a friend who raved about the place though.