Between Seasons Chilli

Is it winter, is it summer? No one knows! So to compensate I made this chilli which is not quite as stodgy but it still packs that heated chilli punch to warm your toes and burn your arse. I’m not a big fan of mince (due to scarring childhood mince memories) and I would sooner make a chilli using whole cuts but in the interest of speed and cost cutting I have used mince.  Now with that sterling introduction click “view recipe” and make it.

• Click Here to View Full Recipe

  +
  
  

  What you need:

  
  

  • 250 g beef mince
  • 250 g pork mince
  • Leftover cured sausage, chopped – roughly 50 g
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 celery stick
  • Handful of mushrooms
  • Black eyed peas – 150 g dried, soaked in hot water for 1 hour min. 
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 kg fresh tomatoes
  • 1 litre chicken stock
  • 1 chilli, sliced
  • 1 heaped tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
  • 1 heaped tsp ground coriander
  • ½ heaped tsp chilli powder
  • Fresh coriander
  • Fresh rosemary
  • Fresh thyme

  
  

  
  

  How to make it:

  
  

  1. Heat a large casserole pan on the hob until hot, and throw in the roughly chopped cured meat. Pour in a tablespoon of olive oil and fry until it starts to release its oils and crisps. Add in all of the mince and fry until browned. Remove from the pan and reduce the heat. Roughly chop the onion, carrot and celery, banging them in the same pan to fry, with a pinch of seasoning. This should take about 20 minutes – ensure the veg doesn’t brown too quickly or you will burn it. Remove from the pan.
  2. Slice the mushrooms and fry until golden – add more oil to the pan as required. Add in the finely chopped garlic and fry for 3 minutes. Pile all of the cooked veg and meat back into the pan. Add all of the dried spices and sliced chilli, stirring into the chilli. Cook for a further minute and then add the chicken stock, fresh rosemary and thyme.
  3. Whilst this simmers, prep your tomatoes. Score the bottom of each tomato with a cross and place into a pan of boiling water for 15 seconds. Take out and plunge into ice cold water. Once cool you can easily peel the skin off of the tomato. Repeat this process for all of the tomatoes. Dice the peeled tomatoes, removing the seeds and core. Add to the rest of the chilli. Of course you can just add a tin of chopped tomatoes.
  4. Let the chilli simmer for 1 hour, adding water if it becomes too dry at any point. Add in the dried peas at this point, discarding the water in which they were soaked. Cook for a further hour or until the peas are tender but not mushy. 
  5. The chilli should be thick in texture but not dry – if it is too thin continue reducing the liquid to get the desired consistency. Taste the chilli for seasoning and adjust accordingly. 
  6. Serve with rice and garnish with fresh chilli, coriander and a dollop of sour cream.