Black Bean Chili -Tassajara Greens (Not)

The Greens restaurant in San Francisco is world famous. They have served organic, locally grown, delicious vegetarian fare decades before such things were considered hip or PC.  Their produce is grown at the Tassajara Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm. The Black Bean Chili is considered a masterpiece.  The Greens' Chili recipe, inspired a crock pot conversion in Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, which I have slightly tweaked. 

I won't lie.  This is step intensive and takes some time.  Remarkable, considering this involves me and a crock pot.  So why bother?  It's cheap and it's Thursday family bonding night. This week, two families are being switched (potentially combined) while the men are off having giddy adventures at an annual nerd convention.  Envision middle aged men wearing geeky goofy science T-shirts, making obscure big bang theory puns, while downing shots of Jack Daniels, and giggling like teenage boys.  All wives are secure in the knowledge that no woman would consider seducing them and confident that their husbands wouldn't notice even if one tried. This dinner is for all weekend science widows and the children, left behind.  They deserve it.

Winner, Loser or Meh

I am not so sure they deserved this.  This is just okay, more of a soup than a real chili. It is not like a soup when served at Greens. I think the converted recipe called for too much water over the beans for the first round of cooking.  I even put the whole batch on the stove and cooked it down for another hour and I still couldn't get this to a true chili consistency.

Recipe

I used a  6 quart crock for this.  It makes a lot.  

• 1 pound dried black turtle beans, picked of stones etc, soaked overnight in water, in crock, to cover.
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbls plus 1 tsp ancho chili powder (sold in cheap bags in Hispanic sections of US western markets)
• 2 tsp New Mexican hot chili powder (sold in cheap bags in Hispanic sections of US western markets)
  
• Tbls cumin seeds
• 2 tsps paprika
• 1/2 tsps cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp dried marjoram or oregano (I used marjoram)
• 3 Tbls olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, peeled, chopped fine
• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, chopped fine
• 4 cloves garlic chopped or 4 tsp jarred (I used Christopher's jarred)
• 1 Tbls plus 1 tsp canned jarred chipotle chili in adobo sauce (sold cheap in Hispanic sections of US western markets - I used some from my friend's fridge stash)
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with liquid
• 1 tsp salt (or more, to taste)
• 1 Tbls rice wine vinegar
  
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Muenster cheese, shredded for serving
• Sour cream, for serving  (I used light)
• chopped cilantro, for serving
  

Discard water from the soaked beans. Add chili powders and bay leaf, cover with water, 3 inches above beans. (This should have been much much less water) Cook on high until slightly tender, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. (after this I put mine in the fridge for 24 hours, but you can just keep going if you want).

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add cumin seeds, paprika, cayenne, and marjoram.  Stir while toasting.  Wait for a fragrance to come up from the pan and look for the seeds to be darker.  Put in small bowl, and use a spoon bottom against sides and bottom of bowl to mash spices into a coarse powder. (You could use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, but I don't have one)

Heat the oil in the skillet and saute the onion, green pepper, and garlic until soft and starting to brown.  Add coarse ground spices. Stir. Pour skillet contents into crock along with chopped chipotle chili  and stir. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.  Add tomatoes and salt, cook uncovered on low for another 1-2 hours. At the end, add cilantro. Stir. Serve.

To serve:  Put cheese in bottom of bowls, add a scoop of finished chili, top with sour cream & cilantro.