Helloooo 🙂
I hope you are all well!
In my last post, I spoke about how I would blog every Wednesday from now on. And what happened? I missed my first Wednesday! Normal service has resumed, however. I was just too busy last week, getting prepared for the T in the Park festival. Yes, we had a wonderful time, thanks for asking! 😀
(Everyone apart from my Bro, who is taking the pic!)
Today’s recipe is one that I made up myself, after browsing many (hundred) chilli recipes and deciding which ingredients I liked best. I’m not a big fan of spiciness; this is a nice, tame version that would be good for children!
You may think I’m weird for what I’m about to say… but I’ve only ever eaten chilli once before. Even then, it was only a small bit, with the kidney beans picked out. I’m so sheltered! Colin is a fan of chilli, so I made it my business to get it learned!
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
500g lean beef mince
2 large onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 sweet pointed peppers (any peppers will be fine though, I just thought they looked good)
250g mushrooms, sliced
2tbsp chilli powder
2tbsp dried oregano
1tbsp ground cinnamon
2tbsp paprika
3 bay leaves
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes, drained
3tbsp tomato puree
1tbsp dark brown muscovado sugar
150ml (1/2 pint) beef stock (I used a stock cube)
1tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly
First I browned the mince, then added the onions. After 5 mins, I then popped the garlic, mushrooms and peppers into the pot. 
Next, I added my herbs & spices, my tomatoes, puree, brown sugar, Worcester sauce and stock.Â
I seasoned it well, with salt and pepper. In went the bay leaves, then I simmered for 1 hour (stirring occasionally).
Next, I removed the bay leaves and put my kidney beans into the pot for 10 more minutes.
I served this with brown rice and a little side salad. Very healthy indeed! I could be doing with some healthy food after all that crappy (and hideously overpriced) festival food.
I really enjoyed this chilli, and would recommend it to anyone who is tentative, like me, about spicy food. I have two tubs of it in the freezer, and I plan to have one of them over a baked potato, with a sprinkling of cheddar over the top… mmmh!
Next time, I’m going to replace the kidney beans with normal baked beans, like my big Brother’s girlfriend Lindsay does with her chilli. Aside from that, the recipe will stay the same; Colin said it tastes like chilli, so thats good enough for me!
See you next Wednesday 🙂 x
I’m going to try this, I think 🙂
Oooh, let me know how you get on, treacle 🙂
Like you I had only tasted chili only once when a friend invited me to her house. I don’t like the kidney beans too. They look too big for me 😛 I would use other type of beans too.
Have you never fancied making your own version, Mary? I’m sure you could put a tasty spin on the original 😀
Be careful adding baked beans. When you cook baked beans normally and the sauce goes cloudy and then gloopy (which is just how I like my baked beans) – one tin of beans can do that to an awful lot of chilli.
Thanks for the tip, Adrian, I’ll keep that in mind! 🙂
I love chilli – The hotter the better for me please! 🙂
You’re braver than me, Jan! I can’t even eat a spoonful of Bombay Bad Boy pot noodle haha 🙂
I use pinto or borlotti beans as my husband won’t eat kidney beans, will try this variation (with the beans change for him) for when we fancy a less spicey chilli.
Excellent! Let me know how you get on, Karen 🙂
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