The first time I tasted Spice Islands® Pasilla Chile Powder is when I used it mistakenly for regular chili powder for a dish I was making for dinner one night. Culinary mishaps like this can sometimes lead to discovering new and exciting recipes later.
When using Pasilla Chile Powder instead of regular chili powder, dishes take on a deeper, smokier and earthier flavor in a very pleasant way. Also called Chile Negro, this distinctively aromatic spice also adds a noticeable level of heat (spiciness) to stews, Chili Con Carne, seafood, fruit, vegetables and poultry.
This recipe for Stout Pasilla Chile Beef Stew I’m sharing with you is now a favorite winter stew because of the complementary layers of dark and deep flavors from both the Spice Islands® Pasilla Chile Powder and stout beer. Together these ingredients, along with a few other bold spices, makes for a memorable beef stew suitable for serving guests for a sit down dinner or just preparing on a lazy weekend evening after a fun day out in the cold. This stew is a great twist on the classic All-American Beef Stew. Enjoy!
Stout Pasilla Chile Beef Stew
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds cubed stew meat
- 1 tablespoon Spice Islands® Sea Salt
- 2 teaspoons Spice Islands® Ground Pepper
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons Spice Islands® Pasilla Chile Powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Spice Islands® Cumin
- 1 tablespoon Spice Islands® Ground Coriander
- 1 tablespoon Spice Islands® Oregano
- 1 12-ounce bottle dark stout beer
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 14-ounce can beef broth
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 medium orange yams (sweet potatoes), peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are softened and browned, about 5 minutes.
- While the onions and garlic is cooking, massage the beef with your hand with salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the flour over the beef. Gently stir the beef with a wooden spoon until each piece is coated with flour.
- Add the beef to the pot and sauté until browned, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the Pasilla Chile, cumin, coriander, and oregano. Cook for an additional minute.
- Add the beer and brown sugar. Stir the pot, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot for 2 minutes. Allow the stew to cook for 5 minutes until the beer is slightly reduced and the sauce is thick and smooth.
- Stir in the beef broth, diced tomatoes, kidney and black beans, and yams. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low. Stirring occasionally, allow the stew to simmer for 45 minutes until the beef and yams are tender
Husband and wife team LINDSAY LANDIS and TAYLOR HACKBARTH are entrepreneurs by day, running a web and graphic design business out of their home in Nashville, Tennessee. By night they cook, bake, and eat all manner of delicious things. Their food blog, Love & Olive Oil (http://www.loveandoliveoil.com), chronicles their culinary adventures in and around the kitchen. Lindsay is the author of The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook (June 2012, Quirk Books), and their next book, a joint endeavor entitled Breakfast For Dinner, is set to be published in February of 2013.
Gaby Dalkin is private chef, recipe developer, food stylist and photographer specializing in simple and sassy recipes for the home cook! Her website, What's Gaby Cooking started in 2009, and includes her latest original recipes as well as her adventures in the food world. 
Pingback: Prepping for the holidays