Slow-Cooked Chilli Con Carne

We all love a good chilli, but it does have to be good doesn't it?  Nothing watery and insipid here, I am looking for warming, rich and hearty with flavourful, earthy spices and a tingling hum of chilli heat. 

Using good stewing beef rather than mince gives this chilli con carne great flavour and texture, especially when slow-cooked for around 3 hours.  I like to use pinto beans as well as red kidney beans, they are traditionally used in Mexican food and they make a soft contrast to the more robust red kidney beans.

This recipe makes a dish with medium heat.  If you like it hot I suggest 'layering' the heat by adding dried chilli flakes or, even better, you could experiment with a few different varieties of whole dried chillies, sliced or diced into the pan when you are sizzling the onion and red pepper.  Using chopped dried chipotle chillies (smoked jalapenos) adds real smoky depth to the dish, you could also consider using chipotle paste, you then won't need the smoked paprika.
As always the flavours are better the day after so, if you can, make it a day or two before you need it.

 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Olive oil

450g Stewing/Braising (Preferably Chuck) Beef, cut into small pieces

1 Large Red Onion (or 2 small), sliced

1 Red Pepper, diced

4-5 Garlic Cloves, minced

Salt and Black Pepper

1-2 Fresh Red Chillies, diced

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika (or 1 Dried Chipotle Chilli finely chopped)

2 teaspoons Cumin

Half a teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper

1 teaspoon Dark Brown Sugar

1 Tin of Plum Tomatoes (400g)
400ml Beef Stock

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon Cocoa Powder
1 Tin of Red Kidney Beans (400g) or 100g Dried beans soaked overnight then boiled until tender
1 Tin of Pinto Beans (400g) or same as above with dried
 

• Pour a generous glug of olive oil into a large saucepan and put it on a medium heat.
• Add the sliced red onion and diced red pepper to the pan followed by a generous seasoning of salt and black pepper.
• After a few minutes cooking add the spices and the sugar then tip in the chopped fresh chilli and the garlic.  Stir briskly to avoid anything burning then add the beef to the pan.
• Turn the heat up to high then stir the beef around for a good 4-5 minutes to seal it and coat it with the spicy onion and pepper mixture.
• Tip the tinned tomatoes into the pan followed by the beef stock and the Worcestershire sauce.  Give it a thorough stir, bring to the boil then turn the heat to its lowest setting and let the chilli simmer, uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• After this time, add the cooked beans and the cocoa powder to the pan, stir through then let it simmer for about another hour, or until it is thick and rich with meltingly tender meat and beans.
• Serve it with long grain rice or, if you prefer, soft flour or corn tortillas.  I also like to have bowls of tortilla chips and grated strong cheddar cheese to sprinkle on the top, sour cream to spoon over and homemade guacamole for cool freshness.