I have THE BEST pot of black bean chili on the stove right now. It needs another 20 minutes or so of cooking but I just had to share the excitement immediately.
I threw ingredients in more or less at random but somehow it has coalesced into my perfect chili. I think the secret is pot liquor. I love that phrase (being a fan of liquor of many kinds). It’s the liquid that remains in the pot after cooking the beans. In this case, I cooked up a big load of black beans this afternoon, and their liquor was smooth, matte, the colour of melted dark chocolate, and, critically, very tasty.
When it came time to make the chili, I fried a couple of roughly chopped onions until they were golden and soft, added some chopped garlic, a teaspoon or so each of chili powder, cumin powder, cumin seeds and smoked paprika and cooked another couple of minutes until aromatic, then added a tin of tomatoes, about 5 or 6 cups of the cooked drained black beans, a couple of cups of the reserved pot liquor, and two fresh bay leaves. I am currently in the late stages of simmering it for an hour, adding spoonfuls of pot liquor as necessary to keep it at the right consistency. Shortly I will eat it in soft tacos with vegies roasted with chili and cumin, and guacamole. I am sure I will make disgusting moans of enjoyment while doing so. Can’t wait!
1 reply on “Pot liquor”
I love chili beans and cook them on high rotation at this time of year. The last batch I used the leftovers as the base of a soup, added more tomatoes, veg and stock and made a fantastic meal.