The humble Chilli con Carne is a crowd favourite over the bleak winter months, but it’s been crying out for a spruce up. Whilst using the usual beef mince is convenient, I’ve decided to...
...have a go at using actual cuts
of beef, but slow cooked the shit out of so it melts into your chilli. Winner. Anyway, this is an incredibly straight forward recipe, with time in the oven being the only burden. But, if you leave it to do its thing throughout a Sunday afternoon, it just gets better with time and is the perfect office lunch that can be brought back to life easily with fresh coriander and yoghurt each day. The heroes of this recipe are the Chorizo and Chipotle (yeh I’m still riding that wave....).
Finely slice the red onion and sit in a small bowl with the juice of a lime and a sprinkle of salt. Set this to one side to pickle away whilst we prepare everything else.
Once the veg has blackened, plonk it all in a baking tray, drizzle over some olive oil and sit in the oven at 200°C for around 20 minutes.
Now, another perk to this dish is you can use really cheap cuts of meat. For the sake of this post looking pleasant, I bought this lovely looking hunk of brisket, but genuinely, any old casserole steak will do. The magic is in the slow cook and it's ingrediential support.
Brown the meat (not cooked through) and add to a large saucepan with the chopped tomatoes.
Fry off some chorizo and add to the pan. Toss like so for added mess.
Whip the roasting veg out of the oven, loosely chop and add to your quickly evolving pan of goodness. Turn the oven down to 120°C
I highly, highly recommend making your own chipotle sauce and adding it to this. You will get a good level of smokiness from your Chorizo and roasted veg but this will really take it up a notch. I use Thomasina Miers recipe and order my chipotle's on ebay. But I understand a lot of international supermarkets and wholefoods type places now stock them.
If not, finely chop and add a fresh chilli.
At this point, season well, add a spoon full of paprika and bung in the oven with the lid on.
After 4 hours, pull the saucepan out of the oven (don't forget oven gloves) and check the meat. More often than not, you will need to help the meat along a bit in the pulling process so grab two forks and feel it out. Only when you cook meat for 6+ hours will the oven do the job for you.
Put the saucepan back on the hob, add the kidney beans and reduce the sauce for a final 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook your rice as per packet instructions but squeeze in the juice of another lime and grate over the zest.
Serve the chilli over the rice, drape over your pickled red onion, some torn Coriander and a good dollop of natural yoghurt.
A lot of the lovely smokey flavour in my version comes from dry frying the tomatoes, onions and garlic (peeling and quartering the onion). Essentially charring (ponsey chat for burning) them.
If not, finely chop and add a fresh chilli.
At this point, season well, add a spoon full of paprika and bung in the oven with the lid on.
Meanwhile, cook your rice as per packet instructions but squeeze in the juice of another lime and grate over the zest.
Ingredients ::
500g Beef Casserole Steak (or other cheap cut)
200ish grams Chorizo
1 Tablespoon Chipotle Sauce
6-8 Large Tomatoes (or 2 tins chopped tomatoes)
2 Large Red or White Onions
1 Jar Roasted Red Peppers
1 tin Kidney Beans
Half a bulb of Garlic
4 heaped tsp Cumin (or to taste)
4 heaped tsp Paprika (or to taste)
Small bunch of Coriander
2 Limes
Greek Yoghurt/Creme Fraiche/Soured Cream (amount to your preference)
Brown/Wild/Basmati Rice
Optional:
50ml Brandy
