Beef and Black Bean Chili with Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay

Show: Throwdown with Bobby FlayEpisode: Chili

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (29)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(29)

Cook Time:
1 hr 15 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
6 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 15 min
Total:: 1 hr 45 min

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Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds beef, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large red onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon pasilla chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 bottle dark beer
5 cups homemade chicken stock, or canned low-sodium or water
1 (16-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained and pureed
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper puree
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups cooked or canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Toasted Cumin Crema, recipe follows
Avocado Relish, recipe follows

Directions

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper, and saute until browned on all sides. Transfer the meat to a plate and remove all but 3 tablespoons of the fat from the pan.

Add the onions to the pan and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the ancho powder, pasilla powder, and cumin and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the beer and cook until completely reduced. Return the beef to the pot, add the chicken stock, tomatoes, chipotle puree, and honey, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and simmer for 45 minutes. Add the beans and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lime juice, and adjust seasonings.

Serve with a dollop of Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish.

Toasted Cumin Crema:

1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 cup Mexican crema or creme fraiche
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the cumin in a small saute pan over medium heat. Toast until lightly golden brown. Place in a small bowl. Stir in the crema and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Place in a squeeze bottle.

Avocado Relish:

2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, finely diced
Lime juice
Chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Beef and Black Bean Chili with Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish
MARK CLEMSON, SC 03-16-2010
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Add the "Q" For a REAL Unique flavor
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

This is really a great recipe, with a little bit of tweaking. I added about half the amount of liquids, included a few more... tomatoes, "chilled" a little on the chiles, and instead of beef, added good hickory smoked pulled pork I made the day before. Oh, I love garlic so I added a pinch more. I was ridiculously popular! Very yummy indeed. Read more
recipe Beef and Black Bean Chili with Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish
mark new york, NY 02-07-2010
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way too spicy
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

this was just too spicy, but still really good. you need the cumin crema to make it work. i would use about 3/4 of the chili... power the recipe calls for. also, use about 3 - 3.5 cups of chicken stock if you don't want soup.Read more
recipe Beef and Black Bean Chili with Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish
Tim Chicago, IL 02-05-2010
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Be Careful With Substitutions
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

We all substitute, but you have to understand how your change affects the dish. I think Bobby Flay is getting a little too... much heat from reviewers here. When Flay says ancho and pasilla chile powder, he does NOT mean "chili powder" that you might buy in the spice isle. He means dried anchos and pasillas that have been toasted and then ground in a spice grinder yourself OR pure powders bought from a reliable source. These pure forms are dehydrated chilis that, when they meet the liquid in the recipe, re-hydrate and have tremendous thickening power. I think he mentions this in the show. I live in Chicago, and these dried chilis are readily available at the regular supermarket in the Latin food section and are quite cheap. If you live somewhere where they are not available or are too expensive, then of course you must substitute, but please understand that you will lose the thickening power (because regular chili powder has little or no real chili in it, it's a lot of salt, cumin, and other additives) and should compensate by reducing the amount of liquid. The "real-thing" homemade powders take about 5 minutes to make in a cheap, $10 coffee grinder used only for spices, and the flavor is unbeatable. If you can do it this way, you will be rewarded. Don't skimp on the beer as some have suggested, just follow the directions. Add the beer and reduce until it's almost gone. This adds great depth of flavor. Also, don't buy expensive beef as some have mentioned. "Beef stew meat" which is usually chuck (not always) is very cheap and is preferred for this recipe to other, more expensive cuts. I don't mean this as an affront to other reviewers, but I think this recipe will lead you to an absolutely delicious, well-balanced, thick chili if you a) follow the recipe ingredients AND directions or b) understand and compensate for your subsitutions.Read more
recipe Beef and Black Bean Chili with Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish
diana wyoming, MI 01-24-2010
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Excellent chili
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This was very good! My husband loved it, I liked the seasonings. It certainly beats having the regular chili anytime. Instead... of using a beer thats Ale use Lager, Makes a huge difference in the taste. I will certainly be making this recipe again!!Read more
recipe Beef and Black Bean Chili with Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish
Jade Conway, SC 01-01-2010
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VERY GOOD- with simple changes!
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

My husband said this was the best chili he'd ever tasted...and I thought it had wonderful flavor! I did, however, read the... reviews first and was very cautious of the liquid amount because I like a thick, chunky chili. I only used 1/2 bottle of beer and just added a little stock here and there as needed and it came out great! Don't pass up this truly great chili! PS: I used regular chili powder with a dash of smoked paprika instead of the expensive spices and thought it worked!Read more
recipe Beef and Black Bean Chili with Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado Relish
Jill New York, NY 12-21-2009
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A lot of trouble, so-so results
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I did not care for the taste of this. The cooked-down dark beer made it bitter - the ancho and pasilla chili powders add... enough "dryness" to the flavor (they're also hard-to-find - I live in NYC and had to find a gourmet store - complete with the gourment prices, to get them.) It is also not cheap. By the time you get 2 pounds of a beef that will tenderize fast enough, you're buying at least $20 worth of meat. Visually, the black beans and beef are all that survive, and it just looks like little brown pellets when you're done. Inexplicable amount of liquid. Totally did not understand it. The relish and cumin crema are delish and easy: try them with something else.Read more