Cooks Illustrated Beef and Black Bean Chili

Steak and Black Bean Chili

I see your traditional chili and I RAISE YOU THIS MUTHA.

Chili powder? Zilch.

Cumin? Nada.

Can of beans soaked in chili whatever whatever? Naw.

THIS. This is epic. Totally unexpected. Beyond exceptional. Exquisitely special.

And the chili's pretty good, too.

BAHA HA HAH A hha h a a haha ha  a a   hahah  aaa.

…hello?

The other day, I set out to make a steak and black bean chili that would punch other steak and black bean chilis right in the face. And I don't have a competitive bone in my body! (don't tell my husband I just said that.) But I feel like I somewhat achieved it. I only say somewhat because we watched Final Destination part 2 last night, and I feel like if I say it's the absolute best steak and black bean chili of all time, I'm testing some deathy egotistical waters, and a vat of piping hot steak and blakc bean chili may happen to fall off a building this afternoon while I'm walking underneath it, and it falls on my head, burning me to ash. Bye-bye, Bev. I KNOW THIS GAME.

So I'll just say it's bloomin' fab. That's safe. I think. I hope. Now I'm scared.

But listen to what goes in this and tell me you're not already losing your mind.

Brown sugar.

MUSTARD.

Beer.

Fire-roasted tomatoes.

Beef stock.

Steak cubies. (I call them steak cubies. Just lock in me a cage.)

Onions and garlic. Freshly chopped herbs. The woodsy ones! Like rosemary, oregano and thyme. (Why do I feel like listening to Simon and Garfunkel right now? Speaking of, where did Garfunkel go? What did he end up doing? Is he in prison?)

I wanted DEPTH. I wanted COMPLEXITY. I wanted TANG. I wanted RICHNESS. I wanted a SWEETNESS. You want me to stop TALKING LIKE THIS.

Boom.

Let me say, because I know you'll ask – I chose the stove top route because there's so much searing and sautéing in the beginning, it would be a maj pain to transfer all of that to a slow cooker. I mean, you CAN. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but I feel like keeping it on a low setting, stove top-style, you'll be in pimp shape. Plus you're stirring once in a while, so that you can manage the reduction action.

That's another thing. I wanted it insanely reduced and thick. But! If you prefer a slightly soupier chili, by all means, add another can of beef stock in the beginning. Won't hurt a thang.

Riiiiight at the end you'll swirl in two level teaspoons of grainy mustard. This like, TRANSFORMS the chili. It's the perfect little zip to round out the whole dish.

And instead of grated cheese and avocado on top? Go with limey Greek yogurt. It is ridiculous. That and jalapeno cornbread. Just stupid. You'll freak out and get pretty upset.

You must make this. If not now, this week. If not this week, this month. If not this month, this season. If not this season, this year. If not this year, next year. If not next year, THEN I DO NOT UNDERSTAND OUR LOVE.

Hello, weekend.

Steak and Black Bean Chili

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tsp flour
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. freshly chopped herbs (I used rosemary, oregano and thyme)
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 oz) can beef stock (go with two cans if you want a soupier chili)
• 1 cup Guinness beer
• 2 tsp grainy mustard
• salt and pepper
• one lime
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish
• cornbread, (I used boxed. I also added jarred jalapeños to the mix!)

Instructions

1. Sprinkle the beef with the flour and a pinch of salt.
2. Bring a Tbs. of olive oil to a medium heat in a large dutch oven. In batches, add the steak and sear on both sides, until you get some good browning all over. Once all the steak is seared, remove it from the pot and set aside. (if you need to deglaze the pot right now, add a tiny bit of water or beer and scrape up the browned bits. It's flavor!)
3. To the pot, add the remainingTbs. of oil and the onions. Sauté for three minutes, until the onions start to soften, then add the garlic. Sauté for about a minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Then add in the brown sugar and chopped herbs. Sauté another minute.
4. Add the black beans, tomatoes, beef stock and beer. Stir to combine. Now add the steak back to the pot, give everything a pinch of salt, cover and simmer on medium low for 2.5 to 3 hours. But check on it every 30 or so, stirring to make sure nothing is sticking, and letting it reduce.
5. Swirl in the two tsp of grainy mustard, and stir to combine. While it's on its final minutes of simmering,
6. blend the lime juice with the yogurt. Um, yes. So good. A little runny, but the tang factor is boomtastic.
7. Serve with chopped cilantro, a drizzle of the yogurt, and a few slices of cornbread. MAH GAH.
8. Serves 4. Maaaaybe 5.

7.8.1.2

49

https://bevcooks.com/2016/10/steak-black-bean-chili/

Bloomin' fab. (That's safe, isn't it? I'm still scared.)

Save

Save

Save

randolphwifforge53.blogspot.com

Source: https://bevcooks.com/2016/10/steak-black-bean-chili/

Share this post