Black Bean Ancho Chile (For Crockpot)

Categories: Beans/legum, Chiles, Chilis & st
Yield: 3 servings

1 cn (16 oz) black beans; rinsed
-& drained
1 md Onion; chopped
3 Cloves garlic
1 1/2 tb Vegetable oil
1/2 tb Ground cumin
3 2/3 c Water
1 1/2 oz Dried ancho chiles (about
-2-3); stem/seed/tear
1 Chipotle chile; (either
-dried or in adobo)
1 cn (14 oz) tomatoes including
-juice; puree coarsely
1/2 c Vegetable broth
1/2 Orange bell pepper (or red);
-chopped
1/2 ts Dried mexican oregano;
-crumbled
1/8 c Fresh coriander (cilantro);
-or to taste
2 tb Fresh lime juice
Avocado salsa; or your
-favorite
Sour cream; as garnish

In a hot pan over medium heat, saute onions and garlic until onions
are soft. When soft, add cumin. Saute a few minutes. Add canned
beans. Saute for a couple of minutes. Set aside.

In small pan on medium heat, slightly char the ancho pieces. When you
start to smell their fragrance, remove them and put them in a blender
with the water. Puree until smooth. Set aside.

Into the crockpot, onion-bean mixture, pureed chiles, and the rest of
the ingredients except the salsa, cilantro and lime juice. Cook on
LOW 8-9 hours. At 7 hrs, add lime juice. Cook for another hour or so
until it tastes right TO YOU.

To serve: put chili over white rice or grits, garnish with salsa and
sour cream. Maybe some chopped cilantro too.

NOTES : Notes: I adapted this from The Best of Gourmet (Featuring the
Flavors of Italy), p. 167. The original recipe called for cooking the
dried beans with the onions and garlic. I quickened it by using the
canned beans.

Also, I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and I used
orange bell pepper instead of red. I also put some ground coriander
seed in the chile instead of some of the cilantro.

I added a chipotle pepper for some smokiness. You can use either the
reconstituted dried ones or one from a can of chipotle en adobo,
whichever you have available.

Recipe by: The Best of Gourmet

Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST by RST G on Jul 28,
1999,

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