Chilli Con Carne

Poppit’s Creative Cooking – Wednesday Night

Poppit – I was trying to think of something that was different from pasta, chicken or curry… my top three things to cook.
 A mexican theme sprung to mind and I ended up cooking a delicious meal of Chilli Con Carne.
I had the original recipe in the Women’s Weekly “Cook” recipe book but it used chuck steak.  As this didn’t look too appealing to me in the supermarket due to the large amount of fat still left on the meat, I opted for the heart-smart minced meat which I love eating anyway!
I also looked up the net to see what recipes used minced meat and found one by Jamie Oliver.  So, mixing a bit of the ingredients from both and adding a few of my own, I have up with this delicious meal!
Now, in the photos, what appears to be oil around the mince is just an excess of water.  The recipe asked for extra water to be added but I don’t think I would do that next time – at least not so much (and I only used about 1/2 cup, if that!).
I also served with corn fajitas which I rolled and placed on the side of the plate.

Chilli Con Carne

 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 red capsicums (red pepper)
• olive oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 heaped teaspoon
• ground cumin
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander leaves
• 1 heaped teaspoon curry powder
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 500g good-quality minced beef
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Method:

1.  Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots, celery and capsicum.
2.  Add oil to large saucepan and cook all vegetables until just soft.
3.  Add the chilli powder, cumin, crushed coriander leaves and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
4.  Stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.
5.  Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes.
6.  Add the minced beef, breaking any larger chunks.
7.  You can add a bit of extra water by filling one of the empty tomato tins and pouring into saucepan.
8.  Add the balsamic vinegar and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper. 
9.  Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan.