Black Bean Chili Con Carne

pattikay in L.A.'s Note:

A flavorful chili from South American Food and Cooking. Prep time does not include soaking beans. Instructions from the original recipe are for cooking in the oven, but I find cooking it in a pot on the stovetop gives you a better idea of when the beans are cooked, as well as how thick or watery the stew is. This is really nice served with Creamy Rice Casserole.

• Total Time: 4 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 1/4 cups dried black beans
• 1 1/4 lbs braising steak
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 fresh green chile, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons coriander
• 1 (14 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 1 1/4 cups beef stock
• 1 dried red chili, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 fresh red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• salt
• cilantro (garnish)
• cooked rice

Directions:

1. put the beans in a large pan. cover with cold water, bring to a boil and boil vigorously for 10 minutes. drain, tip into a bowl and cover with cold water to soak overnight.
2. If using the oven, preheat to 300. cut the steak into small dice.
3. heat oil in a large, flameproof casserole or stew pot.
4. add the onion, garlic and green chile and cook gently for 5 minutes till soft.
5. transfer to a plate.
6. increase heat to high, add the meat to the casserole and brown on all sides, then stir in the paprika, ground cumin and ground coriander.
7. add the tomatoes, beef stock, dried chili and hot pepper sauce.
8. drain the beans and add them to the casserole, with enough water to cover.
9. bring to a simmering point, cover and cook in the oven for about 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
10. stir occasionally and add extra water as needed, to prevent from drying out.
11. season with salt to taste and add the chopped red pepper.
12. replace the lid, return to the oven and cook for about 30 minutes more, or till the meat and beans are tender.
13. Alternate cooking method: If you don't want to use the oven, you can just put the whole thing in a large pot and simmer it on the stove for a few hours - till beef and beans are tender.
14. sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve over cooked rice.

Reviews

[-Sylvie-]

I'm really sorry, but the recipe didn't really work for me. I did everything as directed (except from using a green bell pepper instead of a red one, but that couldn't have made much of a difference), but even after 2 1/2 hours in the oven my black beans were still not cooked through. I ended up picking most of them back out, which was quite fiddly and added a can of kidney beans in the end, heating them through before serving it over rice. I also had to thicken the sauce a bit with some cornflower as it was very runny. The flavours were good though, with a nice heat from the chili and the hot sauce. I'd probably also add more garlic next time. Having chunks of steak was a nice change from the usual minced meat. Thanks for sharing.

[Kittencalskitchen]

I made a few changes to this recipe, I used canned black beans for this, increased the garlic and used 2 large jalapeno peppers and omitted the red chili, I cooked mine for well over the 2 hours, this has a great combo of flavors, thanks pattikay!...Kitten:)