I'm cooking for a friend tonight who makes the most divine food, so I am looking to 'jazz up' ye olde faithful chilli.

Normally I use:
Lean mince
1 medium white onion
red pepper
green pepper
Tinned tom's
Few spoons of tom puree
Kindney beans
1 oxo cube
hot chilli powder (amount depends on who I am cooking for!!)

Its pretty bog standard though so I am looking for any twists other people can recommend!!
Last edited by RAINBOWGIRL22 : 09-04-2008 at 10:18

You're in luck, I make the world's best chilli. It's all about the timing..... Peppers though?!!!

This is my chilli recipe, you can also get it here with a picture and a tasty accompaniment recipe: http://slowcookingisforlovers.blogsp...-potatoes.html

If you don't have a slow cooker, just do it in a pot on the stove or in the oven at a really low temp, but leaving it a long time is all part of the goodness.

1 large onion (or 2 medium)
1 clove of garlic
2 tsps chilli powder (add more or less to your taste)
2 heaped tsps ground cumin (or crushed cumin seeds)
455g mince (it's all about the quality of the mince. Go to the butcher, or M&S - even though they sacked Bryan Ferry for a perfectly reasonable comment about the spivviness of Nazis)
2 heaped tsps tomato puree
2 cans chopped tomatoes
5 oz water
2 cans kidney beans
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Chop up your onion and garlic and add to a hot pan coated with olive oil.
Fry until just getting golden and add your chilli powder and cumin, coating the onion/garlic in the mixture.
Heat this for a minute longer and then add this to the bottom of your slow cooker. Turn the cooker onto high and keep the lid on top to sweat the onions.

Add your mince to the pan the onions were just in. This will ensure all of the left over spices get mixed up into the end result. Brown the mince - if at this point there is lots of fat, drain most of it off - then add the tomato puree, stirring it into the mince. Add the tinned tomatoes and water, and bring to the bowl.

Add the mince and tomato mixture into the slow cooker, stirring the onions/garlic in as you do so. Put the lid back on the slow cooker and leave on high for an hour. After an hour turn the slow cooker down to medium or low and leave until you're ready to serve - at least another 2 hours.

30 minutes before you're ready to serve, drain the kidney beans and add to the slow cooker, stirring them into the mix.

Put the chilli into bowls lined with tortillas, for more tasty carbohydrates to end your meal with.

I add a cube of green and blacks dark chocolate in to mine and real beef stock, fresh chillies, small and hot as well as the fruiter green larger ones, garlic and lots of resh corriander. I cook it for 2 hours.

Make a gualmole too.

lofichic;

Looks divine - and has made me hungry already!!!

So peppers are a no - no? Interesting

Orangebathwater, I am fascinated with this chocolate idea. I know quite a few dishes can benefit from it but I've never been brave enough to try it!! Although I do add sugar to my salsa

Yes, the Green and Blacks sounds divine! I might try that next time. Chilli and chocolate go together really well.

Cheers Rainbowgirl

You can put whatever you like in a chilli, I don't get food nazis. If you like peppers in, then add them the same time as the kidney beans. Fry them off slightly before so they brown a little too. Not my bag though

Ah, a lot of Southern American dishes call for chocolate. It just velvets the whole thing out, it is more a texture thing. Give it a whirl. Try fresh chillies too, just get a bit more depth of heat rather than a furness blast.

i'm loving the suggestion of adding chocolate. i'm definitely going to do that next time i make chilli

I always use diced chuck steak for chillis. Takes a lot longer to cook but tastes far better than mince.

cant believe no one has mentioned cayenne and paprika. Both essential. Also i add tonnes of veg, but think thats just me. I serve with brown rice, homemade salsa (chopped cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and fresh herbs, squeeze of lemon) and low fat creme fraiche. (has the same effect as sour cream, (you cant really tell when its with the chilli we did a taste test! and its way less fat).

I usually throw a handful of chopped spinach into my con carne too, just to give it a more vibrant colour (not like it matters!) and to get in one of my 5 a day! Try it, it's lovely.

Agree with you regarding creme fraiche, especially in a guacamole. Much better consistency than sour cream.

I use oregano leaves and seeded Scotch Bonnet peppers as seasoning. I like it to be blistering hot!

oh yeah i use oregano to. and those little teeny tiny dried chillis. Not sure what they're called

I've started doing a columbo and crumbling crackers onto mine. Like tortillas 'cept I always have crackers.

For me, the perfect chilli should be made with Pork or Turkey, rather than beef. Also, it should include chocolate (a little) and the beans should be added in two stages (to retain their shape/texture).

I've tried making chilli with chicken but it doesn't really work with white meat or pork IMO.

I remember having a beef chilli in a New York restaurant that had honey and tequila in it. Very tasty!"

I've been wondering round work all day thinking about making a chilli tonight, think I'm gonna head out and get some mince (always have the rest of the ingredients in stock ) and try with the chocolate. (I have the G&Bs in too! )

Two questions though:
I assume you're talking dark G&Bs - do you use the 70% or the 85%

Also, how do you add the chocolate? Do you melt it first or just throw a cube in and let it do its business?

Aah - chilli for tea!

As for adding paprika, cayenne, oregano etc, each to their own but it seems a hell of a lot of conflicting flavours! For me, the only essential spice in a chilli (besides the chilli of course!) is cumin, that's a must. I prefer to cook it very simply but treat it like a stew. It also tastes much better if you leave it to soak in overnight. What does the oregano do for it? I'm intrigued! I love how a dish as simple as chilli has so many different ways of making it, and how everyone perfects their recipes. I bet they all taste lush too!
xx

Hi Lofi,

I use the 85%, but I assume the 70% is fine.

I go for the chuck a cube in when it is simmering and give a stir through.

I have a cupboard full of the 85% - there's no accounting for quality palates!

Good stuff, I'll try it tonight and let you kids know how I get on!

Excellent, you will not look back.

Oregano is traditional in mexico. I'm not sure exactly what it does. But my brothers best mate is married to a mexican women and she says its used in most mexican recipes.

I add paprika because i think it gives a really good warmth to the chilli. And cayenne is just another type of chilli. There are hundreds of different chillis.

A splash of red wine?

Dash of worcester sauce?
Dash of tabasco sauce?

I add some cinnamon to mine. It tastes quite amazing. However I *hate* beans so I leave them out.

I was just thinking about making chilli con carne for dinner some time next week. I have a tin of beans left in the cupboard and wondered what I could use them in. Sounds lovely shame I don't have more time tomorrow to make it but I won't get home until 6pm