Chilli con carne

It’s stocking-up-the-freezer time again. There are a few staples I keep in stock for evenings when I can’t be arsed to cook: bolognese, beef rendang, a few curries, and of course chilli con carne.

I have opinions about chilli. They are not quite as strong as my opinions about bolognese (see https://notesfromthevegpatch.com/thoughts-on-bolognese/), but are robust nonetheless. It’s not about keeping it authentic – chilli isn’t authentic anyway, but a Tex-Mex invention. It’s about making something really really good to eat.

My base recipe is from the River Cottage Meat Book, but I’ve changed it so much over the years that now it’s really a new dish. Most controversially, I don’t use mince. Don’t like the texture. Instead I use braising steak that has a good amount of fat in it, for flavour, and if the meat I’ve got is too lean then I’ll sub in some shin or pork shoulder to up the fat content. I use chorizo for that smoky flavour, and ancho or chipotle chillies, again for the smokiness. I like to finish it with dark chocolate. This time around I’m using our home-grown passata and borlotti beans, from the freezer (I know, check me!).

It’s been a few years of experimentation (and a few scribbled notes) but I think my chilli is now pretty damned good.

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River Cottage meat book, annotated

First thing is to prepare the meat. This is a mixture of lean casserole steak, beef shin and pork shoulder, all of which I diced into 2cm pieces. It came from the supermarket, hence the leanness. Usually I’d just use braising steak with a bit more fat attached to it. Make sure it’s dry, else it won’t brown properly.

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800g casserole steak

400g each pork shoulder and beef shin. Note the fat! Fat is FLAVOUR.

Then get everything else ready: chorizo, onions, beans, passata (or you could use tinned tomatoes), cinnamon stick, bay leaf and ancho chilli. Not shown: vinegar, brown sugar, beef stock cube (low-salt), dried oregano and chilli powder.

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Get prepped up

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