Super Bowl recipe: Julia Child's fave black bean chili from Mendocino's Cafe Beaujolais

"Surely no old-time Cafe Beaujolais preparation is found in more fans' freezers around the country than this one, a stick-to-your-ribs vegetarian chili so satisfying and easy to make. To my amazement, Julia Child ordered this homey dish when she visited the Beaujolais in the mid-1980s. Topped with grated cheese and served with warmed corn tortillas, it was a healthy, economical meal that we wound up making by the boatload for a very long time once word got out about Julia's choice."

""The New Cafe Beaujolais Cookbook" by Julian Lopez, to be published on Feb. 3 by the Collective Book Studio, celebrates 50-plus years of coastal California cuisine at Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino. (Photo by Daniela S. Tallman/The Collective Book Studio) The current owner and chef of Cafe Beaujolais, Julian Lopez, includes the recipe in The New Cafe Beaujolais Cookbook, which publishes Feb. 3 from the Collective Book Studio. The book chronicles decades of French-inspired coastal Californian cuisine at the restaurant, which opened in 1968."

"Original Cafe Beaujolais Black Bean Chili Yield: Serves 8 INGREDIENTS 4 cups dried black beans 3 cups whole canned tomatoes, crushed 2 large yellow onions, finely chopped 1 cups finely chopped green bell peppers 1/2 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 2 tablespoons Beaujolais Blend Herbs (see below) 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoons paprika 1/2 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers (canned are fine) 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 pound cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, grated"

Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino opened in 1968 and offers French-inspired coastal Californian cuisine. The New Cafe Beaujolais Cookbook by Julian Lopez publishes Feb. 3 from the Collective Book Studio and includes the restaurant's original black-bean chili recipe. Margaret S. Fox, former owner, says the stick-to-your-ribs vegetarian chili became widely frozen and served across the country after Julia Child ordered it in the mid-1980s. The chili is topped with grated cheese and served with warmed corn tortillas as a healthy, economical meal. The cookbook celebrates more than fifty years of coastal California cooking at the cafe.

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