Student Recipe: Chilli Con Carne

Student Recipe

Making student life in London easier…

This great chilli has to be one of the best dishes to serve to friends for a casual get-together, or make and freeze for an easily-reheated meal when you’ve hard a hard day studying!

The best thing is (for those at urbanest Hoxton), is all these ingredient are available right beneath you at Tesco!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 red pepper
• 2 garlic cloves , peeled
• 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 500g lean minced beef
• 1 beef stock cube
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• ½ tsp dried marjoram (or oregano)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 410g can red kidney beans
• plain boiled long grain rice , to serve
• soured cream , to serve

How to Cook

1. Chop 1 large onion into small dice. Cut 1 red pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.
2. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add the oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot. Add the onions and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Tip in the garlic, red pepper, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin. Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince. Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.
4. Crumble 1 beef stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture. Open 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g can) and add these as well. Tip in ½ tsp dried marjoram (or oregano) and 1 tsp sugar, and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in about 2 tbsp tomato purée and stir the sauce well.
   Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes to absorb all the flavours.
5. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy. Drain and rinse 1 can of red kidney beans (410g can) in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think. Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax in front of the telly!
6. Serve with rice and soured cream, and enjoy!