Beef Chilli (Chilli con Carne)
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A hearty, rich stew with earthy spices and plenty of chilli flavour balanced by a dash of date syrup.
Serves:4
Equipment
- 1 heavy-based casserole with a lid
Ingredients
- 500 g stewing steak or quality minced beef
- 2 large onions roughly chopped
- 3 sweet red pepper such as the Florina (250 - 300g). 1 sliced and 2 left whole
- 3 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
- 2 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
- 1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar or red wine
- 1 tbsp date syrup or a cube of dark chocolate
- 150-200 ml beef or chicken stock you may not need all of this
- 1 400g red kidney or pinto beans (or both) optional
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Spices
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- small stick cinnamon
- ¼ tsp powdered allspice
- ¼ tsp powdered cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
Chillis
- 4 small dried red chillies
- 1 large ancho or banana chilli pepper I struggle to find ancho, so I have to substitute ancho for the local banana chilli. You will need to soak the ancho chilli.
- 2 chipotle in adobo sauce incl. 2 tsp of the sauce
Serving Suggestions
- 1 lime
- 1 handful fresh coriander
- 200 ml yoghurt or sour cream
- beans, rice, tortillas, nachos, burrito or taco .... or spaghetti
- grated cheese if you are using spaghetti
- guacamole
Instructions
- In a separate pan with plenty of black pepper and a tiny drop of oil, sear the meat on all sides until browned.
- Meanwhile, gently toast the dried chillies (to extract their flavour), taking care not to burn them. Remove and put them in a small bowl (together with the ancho chilli if using) with a dash of hot water. Leave to soften.
- Roast two sweet red peppers in the oven or your cooking pot. Again don't burn - soften them on all sides and put them aside.
- Add the chopped sweet red pepper and saute it in olive oil with the onions. Add all the dry spices, including the bay leaf and cinnamon stick and cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
- While the onions are cooking, in a small food mill, add the banana chilli (or ancho), softened dried chillies, softened sweet red pepper (roughly chopped), two tablespoons of tomato paste, chipotle in adobo sauce, garlic and a spoonful of the onion mixture. Whizz into a thick paste. Add some stock if it is too thick to whizz.
- Add the beef and the chilli mixture to the onions - mix and cook for a couple of minutes. Add ¼ of a cup of stock to the food mill and sloosh around so you collect all the chilli sauce and add it to the chilli.
- Pour the date syrup and red wine vinegar into the chilli, bring to a boil, cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook on low heat until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Add ¼ of a cup of stock - at a time - to keep the chilli moist. You want to simmer it gently, not boil it in lots of liquid. It takes about 1.5/2 hours.
- If using, add the beans after 30 minutes of cooking time.
- Ideally, when the meat is soft, let it cool and store it in the fridge overnight.
- To serve, reheat slowly - add liquid if necessary and test for seasoning - maybe a little salt or a dash more vinegar. This is a medium hot chilli, so increase or decrease the chillness to your liking.
- Serve with your choice of sides - see notes below.
Notes
This is a recipe template for you to adapt and make your own, (a) in terms of chilli heat and (b) the beans question - on the side or as part of the stew and finally, (c) how you serve it. On a bed of spaghetti or rice or with jacket potato and then, of course, all the sides or cheese, yoghurt and guacamole. Or the taco, tortilla, burrito or nacho dilemma. A big green salad is always a banker.
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