Quick and Easy Recipes

I love spicy food and I love cooking but I work very long hours and just want to veg in front of the tv when I get in. I hate ready meals, I think they are tasteless and overpriced. Plus they don't leave me any leftovers to take to work for my lunch :-D

To solve my tea time dilemma I have been experimenting with a few of my favourite recipies. Most cookbooks have so many stages and lists of instructions that it takes forever to follow them. I was sure I could simplify some of them and this chilli recipe is one of my successes. You don't need to stir and simmer after adding every ingredient - I have made it their way and my way and no one can tell the difference apart from they don't have to wait 2 hours for their dinner!

This recipe make a really tasty chilli and is so easy to cook. There is just no excuse for buying readymade sauces if you have this recipe, unless you are my partner and can even burn water…

The preparation time is about 10 minutes as the only things you need to do are dice an onion and slice some chillies.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed or 1tsp garlic puree
1kg/2¼lb lean minced beef or lamb
2 glasses red wine
2 cans chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato purée
2 red chillies, thinly sliced, or 3-4 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 beef or lamb stock cube
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
wedges of lime and fresh coriander leaves, to serve

To be honest I don't usually measure anything when I cook this I just squeeze a large blob of tomato puree (about 1/3 of the tube) then I just tip the spices into my hand, checking I have roughly the same amount of all 3. The last time I cooked it I measured how much I used so I could put the quantities in this review, but with the spices I think it is a matter of taste and you will know how spicy you like things! The quantities here make a medium chilli but just add more ground cumin and coriander if you want it a bit hotter.

I know that Chilli con carne is traditionally made with beef but I have found that this works very well with lamb too so just use the stock cube for which ever meat you decide to use

To make the Chilli

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion and garlic over a low heat until the onion is soft.

Turn up the heat and add the mince, cook until browned then pour in the red wine (2 glasses for the pan one for the chef!).

This is the tricky bit. Put everything else in the pan and stir (tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, chilli, cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon, kidney beans and crumble in the stock cube). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook over a gentle heat stirring occasionally until the mixture is rich and thickened. I usually cook it for about 30 mins.

Serve with rice, a wedge of lime and garnish with a large handful of chopped fresh coriander

Tips:

This chilli is great if you are entertaining, simply make it the night before and leave it in the fridge until you need it. This actually makes it taste better too as the flavours infuse overnight.

This freezes really well so I usually make loads and then portion the rest out into bags and freeze. If microwaving from frozen I usually add a spoonful of water so it doesn't dry out.

I like this recipe as I nearly always have the ingredients in the house so if I have unexpected guests or fancy something that tastes a bit special I can make this very easily. I usually have fresh chillies as I grow my own, surprisingly easy to do as I usually kill everything but my chilli plant is still going strong! If buying dried chillies I recommend going to an Asian supermarket as they are much cheaper and you get a lot more for you money, just tip the rest into a jar and they will keep for quite a long time. Be careful with dried chillies as they can be quite a bit stronger then fresh ones (a painful mistake I only make once!).

I am sure this would work well in a slow cooker but I have yet to try it. If I ever remember to try it I will update this and let you know.

So in conclusion…

Cook onions, brown mince, add everything else…… job done!

A really easy to make chilli con carne that tastes like you have spent all night slaving away over a hot stove :-D

Hope you like it x