Cook Chilli Con Carne

Chilli con carne

A favorite staple meal in our home, Mexican inspired Chilli con carne is a treat for both taste and wallet as this recipe feeds a Family of 4 (or 2 greedy hallions with some left over for Lunch) for under £3 a serving. (even less if you use Butcher's Mince, veggie mince or frozen mince) Craig loves it extra spicy so I usually have to have a glass of milk beside me 'cus I barely take spicy things. Hope this recipe is good for you and your family.

Ingredients

• 750g beef mince.                     
• 4-5  chillies (I get mine from a jar-but fresh ones will work too; also the lazy chillies, that are already chopped will save your hands)
• 1/2 white onion(chopped)
• 1/4 pepper.  
• Spices-paprika, cayenne pepper, coriander (about 1 teaspoon of each)
• Tomato Puree (you'll not need a lot)
• Tin chopped tomatoes (or if you like - fresh tomatoes that you can chop yourself)
• Tin Kidney beans (traditionally, but I like to use taco beans which are kidney,pinto and black eyed beans which come with a spicy tomato sauce)
  
  
  Method
  
  
  
  1. Brown off the mince in a casserole pot; the one you'll use for the whole dish. Don't crowd the pan too much; nobody wants pink bits of mince in their chilli. Then when all the mince is brown ; remove it from the pot and place in a bowl. This will allow us to get a right amount of heat and flavor to all the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Add the chopped onion to the pan with a little oil. DON'T STIR too much; I know this is tempting; but this is how onions get that lovely caramel-like texture. Add in your spices when onions are a nice brown(to make it hotter add 1 tsp more of paprika or cayenne) and now stir. Chop your pepper into long finger size bits and add these too. Now add your chillies (if you want even more heat - add more chillies, I tend to add around 3 fresh chillies or 5 jarred ones). Keep stirring and add the chopped tomatoes.
  3. If you are using kidney beans you'll have to drain & rinse them first; unless they come in Chilli sauce or anything like that. Stir them in now and simmer. Taste - if it's not spicy enough; add more chillies, more cayenne or Paprika. Be careful though; as it's tough to remove spiciness in chilli.Return the meat to the Pot & heat through. What you should have looks something like the photo opposite; the sauce needs to thicken; keep stirring it until it thickens(to avoid sticking - remember to go right to the bottom of the pan when stirring.
  4. Simmer until the sauce thickens; then for an extra hit of tomato add a small amount of Tomato puree about 10 mins before serving.
  5. Serve with fluffy long grain rice. This is excellent in a wrap to make a very tasty bean burrito. Enjoy
  
  MAKE IT
  
  • Vegetarian-Use Quorn mince; and check the kidney beans; sometimes they use beef stock in the spicy sauces.
  • Gluten Free - Everything in this recipe is already gluten free - but again check the Kidney bean sauce ; as they sometimes use flour to thicken it.

Is this thing on?

---Hello again---

It's been awhile- sorry about that. Last year and the bit of 2013 that I haven't got in touch about has been about waiting, patience and overall faith that everything will be ok... Eventually.

I'm now living with my fiancé Craig (can't remember if I told you all- I got engaged on the 11th May 2013) post about that coming later in a maisonette (ino-posh) , still in Carrickfergus, still in the posher bits, just not with mum and dad anymore.
I miss them terribly, I also miss the pup terribly.

I'm restarting this blog- there's no regime- no planned posts; just the strict "Ill post whenever the bloody hell I feel like it"  schedule.

---What are all these sticks for again---

I had fallen out of love with knitting there-don't worry-nothing too drastic; but while I was moving a funny thing happened. Craig had seen the stash before-well, the fancier bits anyway, but had never actually touched or even shown interest in the stash. This changed when he was helping me unload the stash (this shows the absolute trust I have in my partner, to handle MY stash and not worry about it unraveling, mussing or being put in the wrong place) I was telling him about the basics of fibre and weight and how this is going to effect how the stash is organised. I looked up and he was looking down at me, ankle deep in a sea of yarn and I could hear the cogs of his brain freaking out. He eventually left the room muttering something about a hoarding problem and I got back to sorting it.

Pictures of the stash's new home will be up by the end of the month. But that's not why I'm here, there are a few things I'm known for:
'that knitting weirdo' is a whisper I hear in coffee shops in town when I order.
I'm also a gamer, a teacher to small children, a teacher to slightly bigger children I hesitate to call teenagers and I'm a friend to a great many people.
A great many of these friends know that I also cook; I'm able to cook quite more often now(since the whole having my own kitchen thang) so I really want to show off some of my cooking and give out some recipes. I have already started to coach some random people in my work about recipes so I thought instead of writing them all out each time I want to give it to someone, I could just give them a link to my blog through Facebook ect and work it from there.

So in short-I'm sorry it's took this long to restart. I'll be cooking more often, blogging more often and being myself.

Luf you all.
Aki