Chilli Con Carne with Chipolte Chilli & Chocolate

Chilli Con Carne

I’m not a huge fan of chilli con carne but I saw a Hairy Biker Recipe which looked more interesting than your usual run of the mill variety. They used minced beef as well as diced chunks of beef. They also used different types of beans and finished the dish with a chunk of dark chocolate to temper the heat and deepen the taste.

So I decided to have a go and tweak their recipe to my own specifications. I found chipotle [smoked dried jalapenos] in a local supermarket and decided to add another dimension with scotch bonnets. I also used cayenne and dried red chilli flakes! 4 different chilli hits for an entirely personal take on Chilli. Now you may think that’s too much – so use less of each or use whichever type you want. I think the smoked chipotle is a key ingredient for an authentic Mexican take on this dish but it’s not always easy to find.

 

Ingredients:

Diced Beef

Minced Beef or horsemeat [which ever you find]
2 Large Onions peeled and diced
2 Large Carrots peeled and diced
2 Cloves of Garlic sliced
1 dried Chipolte Chilli [whole]
1 tsp of red chilli flakes
1 tsp of cayenne [optional]
1 tsp of smoked paprika – hot [optional]
A very fine slice or two of the scotch bonnet pepper - use with caution [!!!]
1 tsp of thyme
1 tsp of dried oregano
1 tbsp of agave nectar
1 tbsp of tomato puree
2 tins/packs of chopped tomatoes
1 pint of chicken stock [oxo cube will do]
1 can of cooked beans [drained] – I used Haricot
3 cubes of dark chocolate [I had 50% cooking chocolate in the cupboard; Hairy Bikers use 70%]
Rapeseed oil [to fry the meat and veg in]
Salt and pepper [to taste]
Fresh Coriander/Parsley chopped - for garnish

 

It’s a very long list of ingredients. This type of list usually puts me off a recipe. Luckily, I had all the stuff in my store cupboard and some you can easily substitute e.g. use sugar instead of agave nectar, any other cooked beans/pulses instead of haricot beans, opt out of using the scotch bonnet. or the cayenne.

Essentially the idea is to cook it slowly like a stew. So brown the meat in batches. Soften the onions and carrots. Add the meat and the spices. Then add the tomatoes, stock and all the ingredients apart from the chocolate, coriander and the beans. Simmer for 2.5 hours – 3 hours. the longer you cook it the better it will be and softer the meat. Stir the chilli occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan adding water if it looks too dry. Check for seasoning and add the beans, chocolate and green herbs in the last 15minutes.

The chilli tastes better the next day and the heat mellows a little overnight.

Serve with boiled white rice and a mouth douser like yogurt. I made a avocado and red onion salad with plain yogurt dressing to balance out the heat with a cool relish.

This is one pot slow cooking ideal for the weekend. A large batch like this will last a few meals or some of it could be frozen for one of those school nights when you are too tired to cook.