Chili con carne (in America shortened to simply “chili”) is a spicy and rich Mexican dish. Its essential ingredients are beef, pork, and chili peppers, but you can often find more ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, beans, corn, brown sugar and more. The name “chili con carne” is a slight corruption of the Spanish chile con carne, which literaly means “chili with meat”. This excellent and tasty dish is the official dish of the U.S. state of Texas. There are so many versions of chili con carne, for example there’s the vegetarian chili, also known as chili sin carne. This version is made without meat and sometimes it includes meat substitutes. Bowls of chili are usually accompanied by ice-cold beer or even cold milk, to moderate the impact of the chilies on the throat. Saltine crackers, broken up and scattered on top, are common in chili parlors. Jalapeño cornbread, rolled-up corn tortillas, and pork tamales also are popular for dunking. Make sure you make enough chili to last a while as it tastes even better after a few days!
INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons olive oil 125g rindless bacon, roughly chopped 750g lean beef mince 2 medium brown onions, finely chopped 2 medium red capsicums, chopped 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1 long red chilli, chopped 2 tablespoons Mexican chilli powder 800g can chopped tomatoes
400g can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
DIRECTIONS Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until crisp, then add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 15 minutes or until browned.
Add onions, capsicums, garlic and chopped chilli. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until the vegetables are soft enough; add chilli powder and cook, stirring for 1 minute or until fragrant.
Add tomatoes and 1 cup of cold water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to mediumlow and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes or until the sauce has reduced slightly. Add beans. Increase heat to medium. Cook for another 15 minutes or until beans are heated through and sauce has thickened. Serve chili con carne with your favorite toppings.
- Stuffed mushrooms
- Tiramisu