Chilli con carne

Serves 6-8

You will need:

● 225g dried red kidney beans or see my Top Tip, below left

● 2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

● 600g trimmed stewing beef, cut into 1cm cubes

● 1 large onion, chopped

● 3 cloves garlic, crushed or finely grated

● 1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced

● 400ml beef stock or chicken stock

● 1 tablespoon tomato paste

● 2 teaspoons ground cumin

● Salt and freshly ground pepper

● 1 teaspoon brown sugar

For the chilli sauce, you will need:

● 8 fresh red chillies

● 2 red peppers

● 2 onions, cut into chunks

● 2 large cloves garlic

● Salt

To serve, you will need:

● A large bowl of rice

● A bowl of sour cream (crème fraîche)

● A bowl of grated Cheddar

● A bowl of guacamole (see recipe, overleaf)

● Tomato and coriander salsa (see recipe, overleaf)

● A handful of fresh coriander leaves

● A bowl of tacos, tortilla chips or warm tortillas

1

Put the dried red kidney beans in a bowl and cover them with plenty of cold water. Leave them to soak for at least 5 hours or overnight, then drain them and put them in a saucepan. Cover them with fresh cold water, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Boil the beans for about 50-60 minutes until they are tender. Drain them, but reserve the cooking water. Set aside.

2

Place a frying pan over a high heat to get hot, then drizzle in some extra-virgin olive oil. Add half of the cubed beef and cook for a few minutes until the cubes are golden all over, then tip the meat into a casserole pot or large saucepan. Place the frying pan back on the heat and repeat with the remaining meat.

3

Once all the meat is browned and in the casserole pot or saucepan, place the frying pan back over a high heat, adding a little more extra-virgin olive oil. Tip in the chopped onion and the crushed or finely grated garlic, whichever you’re using, and cook for a few minutes until the onion is golden around the edges. Tip into the large pot containing the meat.

4

Add the sliced green pepper, the beef stock or chicken stock, whichever you’re using, the tomato paste, and the ground cumin, then season with salt, freshly ground pepper and the brown sugar. Cover the pot with a lid and place it over a low heat to simmer.

5

Next, make the chilli sauce. Split the chillies in half, remove and discard the seeds (or leave in, if you wish) and cut the chillies into chunks. Cut the red peppers in half, remove and discard the seeds, and cut into chunks. Put the chilli chunks and the red pepper chunks in a food processor or blender with the onion chunks and the garlic cloves. Season with salt and blend to a puree.

6

Add half of the chilli sauce into the pot with the meat — reserve the remainder to serve as an accompaniment. Continue to cook the chilli, transferring it to an oven preheated to 150C, 300F,

Gas 2, until the beef is tender, about 1 hour.

7

Next, add the cooked kidney beans you set aside earlier. Add a little of the bean cooking liquid if the chilli is looking a little dry, and cook for another 10 minutes.

8

Serve the chilli with the remaining chilli sauce you set aside earlier; some rice; sour cream; grated Cheddar; guacamole; tomato and coriander salsa, and some coriander leaves, Serve tacos, tortilla chips or warm tortillas on the side to mop up the delicious juices. ●