DINER STYLE CHILLI

The weather these past couple of days has been miserable, not cold but just hideously wet. Definitely the type of weather that makes me want to stay indoors and hibernate with some delicious warming food. As my blog shows, I love American food like burgers and mac and cheese, and this recipe is based on the simple US chilli served in bars and diners. They like it over there on its own as well as a topping on burgers, hot dogs and chips. This was easy to make and took about an hour.

Ingredients for 4 people:

500g beef mince
2 onions, chopped
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp mild chilli powder
2 tsp garlic powder or granules or 3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp ground cumin
4 tbsp tomato puree
500ml passata
2 tbsp pickled jalapeños, chopped (plus extra to serve if you like it spicy)
300ml chicken stock
1 tin kidney beans, drained

To serve:
Grated cheddar
Tortilla chips
Sour cream or guacamole 

Brown the mince all over in a hot non stick pan - there should be enough fat released to fry the mince, however I stupidly used a "sticking" pan so had to add some extra oil.

Add the onions and cook until softened - this took about 5 minutes.

Add the chilli powder, oregano, garlic and cumin and fry for a few minutes.

Next tip in the tomato puree, passata and jalapeños. 

Pour in the chicken stock and then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the kidney beans and cook for further 15 minutes uncovered.

Finally serve in bowls with cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream or guacamole and extra jalapeños if you like it very hot!

I have only ever had the odd English version of chilli con carne with a bowl of rice….I reckon the Americans do it a lot better. This was delicious! It tasted fabulous with all the little extras and next time I might buy some sour cream too as it did have a little bit too much of a kick for me….I am not very good with spice. Anyway this was an easy, great dish, full of flavour - perfect for these cold winter nights - I look forward to trying out some chilli dogs next!