Chilli Con Carne

Sorry it has been a little while since I last posted, I popped to Switzerland to visit my family for a few days whilst they were on holiday. Thinking about it, 'popped' seems a very inappropriate word for how I got to Switzerland as it took about twelve hours on trains to get there! However, once I finally arrived, I was treated to lots of wonderful food, drinks and views... so I guess every cloud has a silver lining!

Now I am back at home in France, I have been battling with my oven, attempting to figure out how it works (despite the fact I have now lived here for seven months). The tricky thing is the oven part... it only has 3 temperature settings and so it is proving very difficult to bake with. What makes it more annoying is that there seems to be no difference between the three settings, they all appear to be in the 'ridiculously hot' region. This frustration has led me to pick Chilli Con Carne for my next recipe as it means I can avoid the oven altogether.

My recipe is for 4 large portions. If there's only two of you then do not fear, cook up a nice large batch and save the leftovers for the next day. Then you can have it with rice again, or mix it up and have Sloppy Joe's, Chilli with Nachos or use it as the sauce of a pasta bake.

This is a really easy recipe and doesn't involve any fancy ingredients, so it's a great option to cook for a large gathering, as all it needs is one big pot and, once all the ingredients are together, the occasional stir. 

In the recipe I haven't given a specific amount of chilli powder as this is for you to decide... just add a little at a time and keep tasting to check how spicy it is getting. 

CHILLI CON CARNE

Difficulty
Easy

Time
 Cooking: 1 HOUR


Serves: 4

RECIPE

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion ~ chopped
• 1 clove garlic ~ crushed
• 650g mince beef
• 800g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 140g tomato puree
• 1 x red kidney beans in chilli sauce* 
• chilli powder 

*If you can't find kidney beans in chilli sauce, don't panic, just buy normal tinned kidney beans and add more chilli powder instead.

TOPPINGS

• grated cheese
• sour cream
• extra chilli powder

METHOD

1. Put the oil, crushed garlic and chopped onion in a large pan and cook for 5 mins on a medium heat, making sure nothing burns.
2. Add in the minced beef. Mix well, so that the mince breaks up and combines with the onions and garlic. Continue cooking until nearly all the meat has browned.
3. Stir in the tomato puree and leave to cook for one minute
4. Add the tinned tomatoes, kidney beans and a little chilli power.
5. Put the lid on the pot and simmer for at least 30 minutes. *During the 30 minutes, taste your chilli and see if you need to add more chilli powder. I usually end up adding 2 teaspoons whilst it's simmering.
6. Serve the Chilli with rice and top with sour cream and some grated cheese. Chilli fiends can sprinkle some chilli powder on top too, if they want an extra chilli kick! 

I know this post is a little photo-less compared to my last one... the Chilli photos will be up shortly, I am just finding my camera wire! 

Good luck and have fun

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