I was actually surprised there was no
chili con carne recipe here already. And looking around the net, I couldn't find anything that tickled my fancy either. So I made my own. It took a few attempts to get to the recipe I like. Now I am not
Mexican or
Texan or anything remotely related to the
true spirit of the dish. So don't expect a "
traditional" recipe. It's
my chili con carne recipe, and I think it is absolutely yummy.
Time required
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1-2 hours
Ingredients
(Serves 2)
Preparation
Chop the onions, capsicums, carrots (carrots?!? you ask in surprise. Yes, carrots. And I sometime even skip the capsicums, and use
only carrots), tomato and garlic. Cut the coriander, but don't chop it up. (Cut it into 2 cm long pieces). Heat oil (you might want to use olive oil like many great chefs. I don't.) in a large
pot and put in the onions. After 2-3 minutes (before the onions start going transparent), add the garlic. Don't add the garlic with the onion, as it will burn, which makes it taste
bitter. A few seconds later, add the meat. I have found that it is important to add the meat now as you can have more control over the amount of water in the pan. You want just about no water at all so that the meat gets
fried and not
boiled. This is very important. When there is no more redness to any of the meat (i.e. when it has been sufficently fried), add the capsicums and the carrots. Wait a few more minutes, and when they begin to go soft, add the tomatoes, chilis and tomato paste. You don't have to use tomato paste, but I think it's great, and I use quite alot. This is because, at least in Israel, some tomatoes have more taste than others, so unless you really strike it lucky, you'll probably want to add quite a bit of the tomato paste. Now add some water, as you'll be cooking this on a
low flame for two hours. If you are new to slow cooking - add more water than you think is necessary - it will boil away, and if it deosn't boil away to your satisfaction, you can leave it on the stove for half an hour longer, no harm done.
Add the spices. Put in quite a lot. Put in a good helping of the chili powder and paprika - they will add a tinge of redness. The celery powder is optional. I like it, but I can't really justify it, so make your own choice. Add the red wine, which I can't justify either. If it's supposed to taste like a traditional Mexican dish, it probably shouldn't have any wine in it, but I like it, so I use it. Don't over do the salt and pepper (especially as there is a lot of chili anyway), but if you don't put enough, it'll taste a bit bland.
In a few minutes it will be ready. Theoretically. sneffy, our resident chef supreme has a better idea. And you should listen to him, as he is the master chef. He says to leave it on a low flame for a couple of hours, to let the flavors get acquainted. It is indeed a good idea. And you should do it. It still tastes pretty good without the leaving on the stove for 2 more hours, but not even remotely as good.
While it's on the low flame, mix it occasionally.
Before you take it off the stove, add the coriander and mix.
Voila.
Incidentally, if you don't have any fresh coriander, but happen to have parsley around, you can use that instead, and add coriander powder (which you should have). My girlfriend actually likes this better. I don't. Your call.
sneff adds some more: "Oh - and I would double the recipe at least - CCC is a dish you REALLY want leftovers with - it gets better with age"
sloebertje says "this looks remarkably like my chili con carne! I eat it with sour cream... yum"