Now With 25% Less Fat! (Part 1.5)

I was going to post the next part of my diary, but I've had a few queries about my chilli so here's the recipe - adjust the spices and such to suit your taste, personally I like it with a good kick.

Darren’s Super-Fantastic-Out-Of-This-World-Mega-Delicious-

Space-Age-“Oh-god-my-poor-arse!”-Hyper-Chilli

 

 

Ingredients:

(amounts based on cooking in a 4.5litre pot, please adjust accordingly)

 

2 large onions (finely chopped)

 

4 cloves garlic, crushed (finely chopped)

 

2 fresh whole chillies (including seeds and membrane, finely chopped)

 

1kg lean steak mince*

 

10 fresh tomatoes (roughly blended and sieved)**

 

1 tsp oregano

 

1 tbsp hot chilli powder

 

2 tsp cumin seeds

 

2 tsp chilli flakes

 

2 tsp cayenne pepper

 

2 cinnamon sticks

 

1 large pinch salt

 

½ tsp pepper

 

2 tsp caster sugar

 

2 beef stock cubes

 

½ tube tomato puree

 

4 tbsp tomato ketchup

 

2 tsp Worcester sauce

 

1 tbsp Tabasco or hot chilli sauce

 

400g tin kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

 

2 tbsp olive oil

 

 

Method:

 

1. Put a toilet roll in the fridge for later, depending on how spicy you like your food.

 

2. In a large pan on a low heat, sweat the onions, garlic and fresh chopped chilli in olive oil until soft (5-10 min). Add to slow cooker.

 

3. Set slow cooker onto lowest or ‘auto’ setting if it has one.

 

4. Cook the mince on a high heat for 5 min until browned.

 

5. Add the chilli powder, chilli flakes, cumin seeds, oregano, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, stir and reduce to a low heat. Cook for 3min before adding to slow cooker and stirring into the onions etc.

 

6. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, Worcester sauce, Tabasco sauce, tomato ketchup, caster sugar. Crumble in stock cubes and drop in the cinnamon sticks. Stir well.

 

7. Add kidney beans, stir and leave for 6-8 hours (but ideally leave overnight for 10-12 hours).***

 

8. Serve with any of the following: grated cheese / sour cream / guacamole / rice / tortilla chips.

 

 

* use good quality lean mince – extra lean is healthy but a bit dry. It makes a difference, believe me!

 

** you can also use 2x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes, but sieve them first to remove excess water.

 

*** the chilli should be thick and saucy, but if you prefer it a bit more liquid then don't sieve the tomatoes first. If you like it thicker, leave the lid off the slow cooker for the last hour or so of cooking, this will help concentrate all those lovely flavours - but be wary of burning!