Bacon, Black Bean & Poblano Pepper Chowder

April 9th, 2009 | Filed under: entree, recipe, sides & bites | Tags: , , , , , ,

Bacon, Black Bean & Poblano Pepper Chowder

I was poking around my computer and found a forgotten recipe. I’m not sure why, but I never got around to posting this Bacon, Black Bean and Poblano Pepper Chowder. It would have been a shame to never post this, so here it is.

This soup was smoky, a little spicy and very flavorful. Top it off with some sliced avocado, radishes and cilantro and you’ve got yourself a meal. I’d also serve some nice, hot tortilla chips alongside for a little bit of crunch.

Bacon, Black Bean & Poblano Pepper Chowder
To make this vegetarian, simply omit the bacon.

8 slices center-cut bacon, sliced into small pieces
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 roasted or grilled poblano peppers, seeds and stems removed*
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups cooked black beans (canned is ok)
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cups corn kernels (I use frozen this time of year)
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste (about 1 tsp.)
hot sauce to taste
1 avocado
6 radishes (optional)
1 cup cilantro leaves

Set a large pot over medium-high heat and add the bacon bits. Cook them until the fat is rendered and they are nice and crisp, then remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Add the onions and saute for 5 – 7 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and saute for another minute, then add the poblano peppers, stock, black beans and tomato paste. Bring to a slow simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for 15 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, pulse the soup until all big pepper pieces are gone. Return the pot to the heat and stir in the corn and hot sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes or so, then stir in the lime juice and salt to taste. Stir in the bacon.

Ladel the soup into bowl and top with avocado slices, radish slices and cilantro leaves.

Makes 6 – 8 servings.

*To grill the peppers, just place them on your grill (whole) over medium-high heat. Turn them every few minutes and remove them once they’re slightly charred on the outside. You may place them in a paper bag and remove the skins if you prefer, but I leave mine on.

If you don’t want to grill, roast the peppers using an oven recipe like this one.

14 Comments on “Bacon, Black Bean & Poblano Pepper Chowder”

  1. 1 Chris said at 6:26 pm on April 9th, 2009:

    This looks delicious! I’d find radish a little too earthy tasting tho, anything else you’d suggest that I could substitute for it?

  2. 2 Brittany (He Cooks She Cooks) said at 7:05 pm on April 9th, 2009:

    This sounds like one of those incredible recipes I have to make, and then reluctantly admit was not one of my own. Can’t wait to try it!

  3. 3 Kelly said at 7:40 am on April 10th, 2009:

    I love the flavor of roasted poblanos. This recipe looks delicious, and simple! Going to stumble…

  4. 4 tastymealsathome said at 9:23 am on April 10th, 2009:

    Cool! Bacon in any soup is fantastic! Nice recipe.

  5. 5 Giff said at 12:27 pm on April 10th, 2009:

    oh my, love that photo. sounds right up my alley

  6. 6 Ari (Baking and Books) said at 8:18 am on April 11th, 2009:

    Gorgeous photo! I love all the colors, especially the green avocado slices against the deep brown chowder.

  7. 7 Greg said at 10:50 am on April 11th, 2009:

    Very nice!

    I’m cutting and pasting this one.

  8. 8 Kirby! said at 4:04 pm on April 11th, 2009:

    Black bean is one of my favorite types of soup! I’ve never made it with poblanos, though. Sounds really tasty!

  9. 9 RecipeGirl said at 4:20 pm on April 11th, 2009:

    Um… yum. Nice creation!

  10. 10 mel said at 7:26 am on April 13th, 2009:

    Thanks everyone!!!

    Chris – just leave out the radishes, but definitely top it off with some tortila chips

  11. 11 Leslie said at 8:52 am on April 15th, 2009:

    This was a delicious chowder, one to add to our favorites. We try a lot of recipes so it has to be good to make our “will do again and again”.
    We used 1 teaspoon of Tabasco Chipotle for the hot sauce. We found it added a sweet and warm note.
    Chopping the radish added crunch.
    We also added chopped tomato for cool sweetness, along with the avocado and cilantro.
    We made this early in the day and let it rest in the refriderator until dinner, then reheated, we think this helped build on the flavors.
    Thank you for this lovely recipe, tonight we are trying the chicken kebabs!

  12. 12 Inspirations - April 26th - May 2nd « A Slice of Awesome said at 10:37 am on May 2nd, 2009:

    [...] Bacon, Black Bean and Poblano Chowder (minus the cilantro) – http://www.bitchincamero.com/mel/2009/04/bacon-black-bean-poblano-pepper-chowder/ Lemon Ice Cream – [...]

  13. 13 G. Jacobson said at 11:58 am on February 3rd, 2010:

    Sounds good, but for further reference, you should really specify “COOKED” back beans in the ingredient list. Otherwise, you would end up with a crunchy soup if indeed you could actually puree it!

  14. 14 mel said at 3:14 pm on February 3rd, 2010:

    G – You’re right! I updated to say “cooked” – thanks :)

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