Chilli (Up North) Con Carne

This serves 4 with some left overs to have in a Yorkshire, on a jacket or with some tortillas the next day. It takes about 15mins to prepare and then 3 hours too cook but the longer you leave it the better it gets.

Ingredients:

• 250g of kidney beans or mixed mexican beans or beans of your choice (cooked and drained)
• 500g of minced beef (i say ish as the pack i bought was something like 454g…..don’t know why morrisons don’t do 500g)
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 2 red onions (can use white ones if you’re reddist)
• 2 carrots
• 1 Green Pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 4 chillis of your choice – i used a mix of dried red chillis, frozen carribean red hot and some fresh green thai hot)
• 2 x 400g tins of tomato’s
• 1 small tin of sweetcorn
• 2 cubes of dark chocolate
• 1 tablespoon ish of tomato puree
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 bayleaves
• cinnamon (to taste)
• 3 teaspoons of paprika
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• large handful of chopped parsley
• tabasco
• olive oil

then tortillas, grated cheese, rice, soured cream, guacamole and tabasco to serve with (the tabasco can be added to the dish when cooking but as em doesn’t like it too hot i add it to mine before serving)

you can also add a splash of dark beer or tequila when cooking the beef to add a little extra flavour

Method

1. chop the onions,carrots and peppers up and set aside. (you can grate the carrots and onions if you want)
2. heat a large pan or casserole dish on the stove and add some olive oil, crumble in the stock cubes in, when they start to dissolve add your mince and cook for a few mins until browned.
3. remove the meat with a slotted spoon and then cook the onions and peppers in the remaining juices and oil for 5-6 mins until everything is soft.
4. crush and add the garlic, add the chillis and the sweetcorn and cook for a couple more mins  return the meat to the pan
5. then add the tomatoes,tomato puree, paprika, beans, cumin, salt, pepper, honey and bay leaves.
6. cover and simmer for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Either that or put it in a slow cooker and cook for 8 hours
7. then just before serving, check your seasoning and adjust if necessary, grate the chocolate into it and stir followed by adding in the chopped parsley and adjust with tabasco if needed.
8. serve with choice of accompaniment and a cold beer…enjoy!!

A Nice hearty chilli for those cold winter days