Southwestern Spiced Chicken & Black Bean Stew

Name: Southwestern Spiced Chicken & Black Bean Stew
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4-6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 3 slices bacon; 6 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (about 2-1/4 pounds); kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper; 1 large yellow onion, diced; 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely diced; 2 teaspoons chili powder; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 3/4 cup beer; 1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans, rinsed (about 2 cups); 1 dried chipotle pepper; 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, more if needed; 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves; 1 lime; sour cream (to garnish); fried corn tortilla strips (optional)

Submitted by hepcat1

"I searched high and low to find dried chipotles (where are you when I need you, California??...sniff...) and finally asked my local grocer to order them for me. It was worth it."

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photo by Chuck B.

Ready In:: 1hr 30mins
Ingredients:: 16
Serves:: 4-6

ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 slices bacon
6 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (about 2-1/4 pounds)
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely diced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
³⁄₄ cup beer
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans, rinsed (about 2 cups)
1 dried chipotle pepper
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, more if needed
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 lime
sour cream (to garnish)
fried corn tortilla strips (optional)

directions

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until it renders much of its fat and crisps slightly, about 7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels.
Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Add half of the thighs to the pan and brown them well on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Brown the remaining thighs and reserve with the rest.
There should be 2 to 3 tablespoons fat left in the pan; if there's more, spoon out and discard the excess. Add the onion and bell pepper, season well with salt, and cook, stirring often, until the onion softens and caramelizes slightly, about 7 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the chili powder and cumin, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
Add the beer and cook until it's almost completely reduced, about 3 minutes. Add the beans, the chipotle and the chicken broth. When the mixture comes to a boil, adjust the heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
Transfer 2 cups of the beans and broth (but not the chipotle) to a blender, purée, and then mix it back into the rest of the broth.
Return the thighs to the pot, cover with the lid slightly ajar, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. If the stew is too thick, thin it with more chicken broth.
Discard the chipotle. Crumble the reserved bacon. Juice one half of the lime; cut the other half into wedges. Stir the bacon, lime juice, and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro into the stew and season well with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately. Sprinkle each serving with the remaining cilantro and a small dollop of sour cream. Serve with the lime wedges and fried tortilla strips, if you like.

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Reviews

This is so yummy! I did cheat a bit by using cooked chicken. So I just skipped step two. I also did not puree the mixture because DH and I love things thick and chunky. This is a very spicy and delicious stew. I served it for lunch and just had some tortilla chips on the side. Made for Alphabet Soup Game. Thanks for posting. :)

teresas

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

hepcat1

<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/FFF/Switzerland-FFF4.gif"> After growing up in central Wisconsin, I moved to California and spent my 20's and part of my 30's there. I've since moved to the east coast to a small village in Northern Virginia - a huge change! We moved here mainly so we could live in an area better suited to raising children and closer to family. Although it's an adjustment, we really love it here. My husband and I were married in Feb 2003 and had our first daughter, Kylie, in Aug 2004. Our second daughter, Katie, was just born in July 2006. I was an HR Director until I became Mom, and I wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world! I began cooking when I became a stay-at-home-mom, mostly out of necessity. We used to eat out for every meal...and I do mean EVERY meal. When our income was cut in half after my "early retirement", eating out was no longer an option. Therefore, if I was going to continue to eat all the delicious food I was accustomed to, I was going to have to...oh, the horror!!!...COOK IT MYSELF!!! I had grown up baking with my mom, but hadn't actually baked in years and had always left the cooking to her. To my utter surprise and delight (not to mention my husband's SHOCK and delight)...I loved it! Then, to find Recipezaar...well, it's become a much loved hobby and something I'll surely do for the rest of my life! <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w186.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w186.photobucket.com/albums/x187/kristybernardo/15590867.pbw" height="360" width="360"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_logo.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a><a href="http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x187/kristybernardo/?action=view¤t=15590867.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_viewshow.gif" style="float:right;border-width: 0;" ></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshow?action=landing" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_getyourown.gif" style="float:right;border-width: 0;" ></a>

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