I love making Chili Con Carne. You can use it in so many ways: over rice, in tacos, burritos, nachos, etc. And it’s even better the longer is sits in the ref (not more than 7 days mind you). I like to make a big batch then have different Mexican meals during the week.
I basically combined a couple of recipes for Chili to come up with mine, the biggest influence being Jamie Oliver’s Chili Con Carne. Below is my adaptation & Jamie’s tips for serving it:
serves 6
- 2 medium onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 red pepper *I don’t usually add this because I dislike peppers but tonight I did because I didn’t have any carrots
- olive oil
- 1-2 heaped teaspoon chili powder
- ½ – 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas *optional or can be substituted with cubed potatoes
- 1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans
- 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes or whole
- ½ -1 cup Ragu (Chunky or Old World Style) *If you don’t have this, use any spaghetti sauce/tomato sauce/puree
- 500g ground sirloin or super lean beef
- 1 small bunch of fresh coriander
- Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic and carrots
- Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat
- Add the ground beef, chopped onions & half the chili powder
- Brown the beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon
- Once brown, drain any excess oil if there’s any
- Halve the red peppers, remove the stalks and seeds and roughly chop
- Add peppers, garlic & carrots to the pan
- Add the remaining chili powder with a good pinch of salt and pepper
- Stir every 30 seconds for 2-3 minutes until softened and lightly coloured
- Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes
- Add the Ragu
- Pick the coriander leaves and place them in the fridge
- Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in
- Season with a good pinch of salt and pepper
- Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it catching
- This is fantastic served with fluffy rice
- Just divide the rice and chili into big bowls or serve in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves
- If you don’t fancy rice it’s equally good with a nice hunk of fresh crusty bread, over a jacket potato or with couscous
- Put a small bowl of natural yoghurt, some guacamole and a few wedges of lime on the table, and sprinkle the chili with the coriander leaves
- I love to add a nice green salad to round it off
The hubby & I also love to add cheese & let it melt on top of the hot Chili. Aside from the above, you can also serve it with tortilla chips, salsa & baked beans. Boy oh boy I just LOVE Mexican food! Enjoy!
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