Chili Con Carne

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

1. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic and carrots
2. Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat
3. Add the ground beef, chopped onions & half the chili powder
4. Brown the beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon
5. Once brown, drain any excess oil if there’s any
6. Halve the red peppers, remove the stalks and seeds and roughly chop
7. Add peppers, garlic & carrots to the pan
8. Add the remaining chili powder with a good pinch of salt and pepper
9. Stir every 30 seconds for 2-3 minutes until softened and lightly coloured
10. Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes
11. Add the Ragu
12. Pick the coriander leaves and place them in the fridge
13. Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in
14. Season with a good pinch of salt and pepper
15. 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

Jamie Oliver’s Tips To serve

1. This is fantastic served with fluffy rice
2. Just divide the rice and chili into big bowls or serve in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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!