Chili con carne
History:
This is an absurdly-easy dish to do, and is delicious as well! I was trying to use up a chunk of minced beef I bought - which was originally intended for kidney-and-steak meatballs, but I didn't have any kidney or breadcrumbs with me. Partly also because I missed Scotland quite a bit these days, and thought of doing up a better version of the microwavable chili con carne I had there.
The herbs I used can easily be substituted with whatever you have at hand, and the degree of spicyness is really an individual choice. In this recipe I used 3 different types of chiles, mainly because my first attempt using only chilli padi turned out to be rather 2D in taste.
Ingredients:
This is an absurdly-easy dish to do, and is delicious as well! I was trying to use up a chunk of minced beef I bought - which was originally intended for kidney-and-steak meatballs, but I didn't have any kidney or breadcrumbs with me. Partly also because I missed Scotland quite a bit these days, and thought of doing up a better version of the microwavable chili con carne I had there.
The herbs I used can easily be substituted with whatever you have at hand, and the degree of spicyness is really an individual choice. In this recipe I used 3 different types of chiles, mainly because my first attempt using only chilli padi turned out to be rather 2D in taste.
Ingredients:
- 300g topside minced beef
- 100ml canned tomato puree
- 400ml canned diced tomato with basil
- Sage (1 teaspoon)
- Tarragon (1 teaspoon)
- Saffron (1/2 teaspoon)
- Canned pinto beans
- Canned red kidney beans
- Chilli powder
- Chilli padi
- Canned Jalapeno chilies
- Salt & Pepper
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and fry minced beef until just brown
- Add diced tomato, tomato puree and herbs. Heat until mixture boils, and simmer.
- Add chilli powder to taste (I used 2 tablespoons), throw in the canned Jalapenos and add chilli padi to taste. For the chilli padi, I sliced them length-wise and crushed them with the flat of the knife before throwing them in. Simmer with the chiles for about 5-10 minutes.
- Discard most of the liquid from the canned beans, and add them in. Simmer until the chili becomes piping hot.
- Chili con carne can be eaten as-is, served over rice or frozen and re-heated (this reportedly develops its flavours.) Dad and sisters used it as a salsa dip substitute and claim that it's excellent for nachos!
