Pete's Unusual Black Bean Chili
Submitted by mikelley
Black bean chili with ground chuck, cocoa powder, molasses, cinnamon, and liquid smoke for complex depth. Pressure-cooked dried beans and a low-and-slow simmer build serious flavor.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
1 hrsCOOK
2 hrsREADY
3 hrsThis is not your standard bowl of red. Cocoa powder, molasses, cinnamon, and a hit of liquid smoke push this black bean chili into deeply savory, almost mole-like territory. The spice list reads unusual, but together they create a rich, dark chili with layers you can’t get from a packet.
The recipe insists on browning the ground chuck separately from the aromatics, and it’s right. Onions and peppers release too much moisture if they share a pan with the beef, turning it gray instead of brown. That sear on the meat is where the beefy flavor comes from; don’t skip it.
Dried black beans cooked in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes hold their shape better than canned and absorb the chili’s spices as everything simmers together. The chicken stock (or beer, honestly) thins the base to your preferred consistency.
Pro Tips
- Brown the beef in batches if needed; overcrowding the pot steams the meat instead of searing it
- Uncover the pot for the last 30 minutes if the chili seems thin; tomatoes release juice as they cook
- This genuinely tastes better the next day after the cocoa, molasses, and spices have had time to meld
- Serve with cornbread as the recipe suggests; the sweetness plays off the smoky depth
Variations
- Turkey version: Swap ground chuck for ground turkey and add an extra tablespoon of liquid smoke
- Vegetarian: Skip the beef, double the beans, and use vegetable stock
- Extra smoky: Add a chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce with the crushed tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
In a fairly large pot, brown the ground chuck, draining off any fat when finished browning.
Simultaneously, sauté the chopped onions, garlic and green pepper in the oil in a separate pan -- I find if you try to sauté them with the beef, they give up too much moisture to it, and it really doesn’t brown enough -- it just “grays” .
Add the sautéd onion, garlic, and green pepper to the browned meat, along with all the other ingredients.
Dilute it to the desired thickness with the chicken stock -- or some beer.
Simmer for an hour or two, covered.
You may want to uncover for the last half-hour or so if you think it has thinned out more than you expected -- sometimes the tomatoes release juice as they cook.
Particularly good with corn bread.
And even better the next day Black Beans Pressure cook them, which only takes 45 minutes after the steam release hisses the first time. Just rinse two cups of dried black beans well, and put them in the pressure cooker with at least 4 cups of water. Seal it, heat until the steam release hisses the first time: then, turn down the heat to medium-low, and start your timer for 45 minutes. Steam release should hiss every few minutes or so. When they’re finished cooking, drain them, and they’re ready for the chili pot.
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