Chile con carne

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef (or turkey!)
• 1 - 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper
• Optional: other peppers e.g. red bell pepper, poblano
• Can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 4 fat cloves of garlic - chopped or crushed
• Chili powder – try 1 tablespoon to start with, add more if you want.
• Cayenne pepper. This adds the heat so go easy. Try just a quarter to half teaspoon initially.
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp oregano (ideally Mexican oregano)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 can red kidney beans

Instructions

Fry the ground beef in a dutch oven over medium high heat. When browned, remove to a bowl and set aside. Fry the onions for a few minutes then add the green pepper (and others if using). Keep cooking until they soften up a bit — probably 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

Add the chili powder, cayenne, cumin, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper and stir well, cooking a minute or so until they are toasted and fragrant. Add a splash of water if things are dry.

Next, add the tomato puree and stir through, cook for a minute or two and then finally add tomatoes with the juice and return the ground beef. Stir well. Bring to a boil and then cover, turn down heat and simmer for about 50 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to bottom saucepan. Finally stir in the kidney beans and cook long enough that they warm through.

Notes

• Can serve with rice, in a burrito (with or without rice) and over a jacket potato
• Chopped cilantro, cheese and sour cream are good accompaniments
• Good with Dixon chile powder
• Have also used red chile sauce
• Good with pickled red onions scattered on top