Chilli con Carne is a great dish to share with lots of friends. There are many variations and this recipe is courtesy of Rachel Allen, a cook, cookery writer, TV presenter and lover of great real food which she taught Jen to create at Ballymaloe Cookery School.
Rachel says, “I don’t care how old fashioned this is, I love it. Mind you, it’s probably so out of fashion it’s cool. However, I do think it’s better with cubed rather than minced meat.”
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 700g stewing beef, fat removed and cut into 1-2 cm cubes (pork or lamb can also be used)
- 1-2 large onions, chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
- 2 green peppers, deseeded and sliced
- 3 green or red chillies, chopped (for this I would leave the seeds in)
- 1-2 tsp freshly ground cumin
- 400g tin kidney beans, drained (keep liquid, if you like) or 225g dried kidney beans, soaked and cooked
- Salt
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- Sour cream (dairy-free if necessary), coriander leaves and grated cheddar cheese to garnish (optional)
Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a casserole or saucepan.
2. Cook the meat until it changes colour, add the onion and garlic and stir around for a minute.
3. Add the tinned tomatoes, peppers, chopped chillies and a good pinch of salt.
4. Cover with a lid, bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour or until the meat is cooked (it should be nice and tender). By the end of the cooking time, the liquid should have reduced to a thick sauce. If it gets too dry during cooking, just had a little bit more water or liquid from the beans. You can also put this into the oven at 150°C/300°F/gas 2.
5. Finally, add the cumin, kidney beans (and a little bit of bean liquid, if you like) and brown sugar. Simmer for a further 10 minutes.
6. Serve with rice, a spoonful of (dairy-free) sour cream, some grated cheddar or dairy-free cheese, maybe a taco and some coriander leaves sprinkled on top. It’s also great with Tomato Salsa and Guacamole, and if some of your friends like a bit more heat, served with a Hot Chilli Sauce too.
Team Tip: Like so many stews, this gets even better the next day. It also freezes well and so great for batch-cooking.
Team Tip: If you realise at the end of cooking that you haven’t put in enough chilli, just add a dash of Tabasco sauce.
**Always check the ingredients of any food you’re cooking with to make sure it doesn’t contain something you or your child should avoid.
