Saturday, June 16, 2007

Chili Again

My recipe - I warn you that this is just a good estimate. I tend to cook without recipes for things I'm familiar with, or I try to reproduce something I've eaten in a restaurant by guessing. Not always successfully.
So I'll give this a name (because I like titles):
WRITER'S HOT FINGERS CHILI
500gm good beef mince - brown it in a non-stick saucepan and then drain off the fat.
Add 1 large chopped onion, cook for a couple of minutes. Then make a hole in the mince and onion so you can put the following onto the hot surface of the pan: 1 tsp chili powder, 1-2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp minced ginger, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp tomato paste.
Cook the spices etc for half a minute, stirring so the paste doesn't burn, then mix into the mince. Add one tin of chopped tomatoes (can add two if you really like lots of tomatoes in it). I also add stock powder - about 1 tsp (then you can add salt later if you think it needs it). Cook for about 15 minutes, add a tin of kidney beans (what size is up to you), and cook another 30 minutes.
I serve it with rice, but you can serve it any way you like - rice, burritos, tacos, etc.
If you want it really hot, you can increase the chili powder, but I find chili can be vicious in powder form - it's often stronger than you think!
And like curry, it improves with age, so leftovers next day might be even better.

3 comments:

Tracey said...

Mmm, yum. I also often add capsicum and/or mushrooms too. Mind you I do the garlic in with the onion. Interesting that you do it later.

Anonymous said...

Consider myself inspired. I'll do this tomorrow. I didn't notice any Corona in your recipe though Sherryl--was the beer for the cook rather than the chili?

Sherryl said...

My recipe doesn't have beer in it (the cook gets to drink a margarita instead!). In the Tombstone recipe, the beer was instead of water, and I think the flour was what thickened it up. I might have to reconsider my recipe and add some Mexican beer...