The Ultimate Ultimate Chilli Con Carne

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The Ultimate Ultimate Chilli Con Carne

Serves 6

Ingredients

1kg beef mince
2 onion, chopped finely
2 can kidney beans
2 cans tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
6 - 8 garlic cloves crushed or minced
4 Jalapeno chillies, chopped finely - Adjust to taste
2-4 Scotch Bonnet or Habanero chillies, chopped finely - Adjust to taste
5 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
3 tsp paprika
2 glasses red wine
Small bunch coriander
Soured cream to taste

Method

Start by searing the minced beef in a very hot, heavy-based frying pan, oiled with a little olive oil, seasoning well. Once it has been cooked on both sides, almost to the point of burning, remove from the heat and place to one side.

Turn the heat down to a medium heat and gently fry the onion in a little more olive oil until it is translucent. Then add the paprika, cumin and garlic and fry for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes, tomato puree, wine and mince.

At this point add the teaspoon of sugar or if you feel like chilli with a twist, add a square of dark chocolate instead. It will impart a richness of flavour to the chilli.

Turn the heat down very low and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Then add the kidney beans and simmer for a further hour.

Add all of the Jalapenos and two of the minced Scotch Bonnets, cook for a few minutes and test for heat levels. You can always add more chillies but you cannot take them away. Add more Scotch Bonnets according to taste, remembering that it will get a little hotter as they infuse. Cook for a further 10 minutes to let the chilli heat infuse the dish and serve with coriander leaves chopped and sprinkled over the top and a dollop of soured cream. If you do not have soured cream, mix half natural yoghurt and half single or double cream and you?ll never know the difference.
The flavours in the chilli meld together over time so you will actually find Chilli Con Carne better the day after you make it.

Have you ever tried the tesco cans of mixed beans in a mild chilli sauce? They're great

[Fi5H]

no i havent bud.. im more of a morrisons guy dont get to go to tesco much lol but i will make an effort and try them out.

[Stephen Lindsay]

Have you ever tried the tesco cans of mixed beans in a mild chilli sauce? They're great

whilst not wishing to create a supermarket war lol, can I put my bid in for ASDA tins of red kidney beans in chilli sauce.

[George]

I made the recipe at post #1 this evening and it certainly has some merit, but I wouldn't go anywhere near as far as using the word 'ultimate'.

My changes were to make half the quantity, starting with 500g of lean mince. I only added half an anonymous green chilli from Morrisons but, as I said, it's flavour I'm after and not heat from the chillis. This recipe is expensive though, necessitating the purchase of red wine and sour cream, unless you happen to have these things lying around, which I don't. I also added quite a lot of salt and black pepper. The recipe only mentioned 'seasoning' early on, so it was too vague, really. The substitution of my normal (cheap) beef stock cube for (expensive) red wine can't be justified in my opinion. I may borrow some aspects of this recipe when I next make my normal chilli con carne. Aspects I may 'borrow' include the high amount of garlic, roasting the cumin and the high quantity of cumin, and perhaps even the red wine, but only in addition to beef stock.

[Malc.]

Hi Axe,

I only ever use stewing steak when making a chilli, mince is just not up to the trick. I always after having seared the meat, put it in a pressure cooker with a little water and a Knorr beef stock cube, then cook it for about 5-10 minutes on a low heat after it has started to whistle.

I then add both the beef and the stock juices to the chilli mixture and cook on a medium heat until the meat is really tender and the liquid has reduced to a thick consistency.

The end result is a chilli with soft meat that melts in you're mouth but a good body of flavour behind it. I also add a few splashes of worcestershire sauce too

Never tried it with the Chocolate though, must give that a go.

Last time I made a chilli I used braising steak which worked really well, but I agree that steak makes all the difference compared to mince. This is not the first time I have used wine in a Chilli either but you need a delicately balanced recipe to really appreciate it.

I also didn't detect the cumin like I thought I would. Maybe the chocolate had something to do with this I don''t know. If anyone wants to try this recipe, I would definitely add either a stock cube or the Worcestershire Sauce or both.

[George]

If anyone wants to try this recipe, I would definitely add either a stock cube or the Worcestershire Sauce or both.

I intend trying this tonight when I reheat the remaining two-thirds for today's supper. It's a bit dry already. I'll add about half a pint of beef stock and see if the flavour is improved. Next, I'll add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.

[Malc.]

On thing I haven't as yet tried that I have thought about is adding pork with the beef. I watched a Heston Blumenthal episode on Spag Bol where he went to Italy to find out the secrets to a good Ragu. Some use a mix of both beef and pork which is something that Heston incorporated into his finished dish. I followed this recipe which was a an eduring feat but the finished result was the best Spag Bol I have ever eaten. I appreciate that there are of course many other components to a Heston Recipe but I can say the Beef and Pork mix is a surprisingly good one and one that I have repeated time and again since. I think it will lend itself to a mild chilli, especially with the added wine.

[George]

I added 0.75 pint of beef stock (a Knorr stock cube) to the chilli this evening, plus a few drops of Worcestershire sauce. It made it better - about up to the standard of my normal nothing-special recipe which I've been making for years.

[George]

I had the final portion of the chilli con carne last night and it was good. I can't claim to have made a better-tasting chilli con so I'm grateful to Fish for posting the recipe.

So, from the original recipe at post #1:

- make half quantities
- add 0.75 pints of beef stock (using 1 Knorr cube)
- add a splash of Worcestershire sauce
- add quite a bit of salt and pepper
- add 1 tsp Oregano
- keep the chilli con carne in the fridge for 2 or 3 days, because it improves
- add a pinch of garam masala to each portion just before serving ( I use Ghanna's recipe)

[TyeNoodle]

Made this tonight with Georges modifying. Very nice indeed.

Cheers both