Chili related nonsense

Now, my apologies this has taken a couple of days to get around to Mr Vuboq, but at last the chili related news:

As some of you may be aware I'm not really one for recipes and quantities, so here's what you need:















Incase you have trouble identifying anything these are:
Mince meat
Pepper (capsicum)
Garlic
Spring onions
Onion
chilies
chili powder
Paprika
salt
chili sauce (Eg. Tabasco)
Beef stock cube
mushrooms
tin tomatoes
tin kidney beans

Notes on ingredients
Don’t get prime or top quality mince! Chili benefits from a bit of fat
I'll probably only use half of the pepper shown, the rest of the quantities are pretty appropriate.

Although it makes no real difference to the taste I prefer to use a red pepper as the redder the whole concoction is, the more the subconscious associates it with heat.
I've leant a little heavily on the onions, this is because onion is so good as absorbing flavour and adding texture.

How to make it
combine all ingredients in your fave chili pan. Cook. Ta da!




















How to make it (properly)
It's not essential but it's easier to cook if your ingredients are prepared so dice the onion, spring onion and pepper. Finely chop the garlic, as fine as you can. Make a couple of holes in the lid of the kidney beans and place it upside down in the sink to drain. Put a splosh of olive oil in the chili pot and place on stove top on a medium high setting. When hot add the onion, garlic and mince. Move around with a wooden spoon until the pinkness has gone:



Warm up the chili - Add about a heaped teaspoon of paprika. Mix well. When it's thoroughly mixed add chili powder (I used about a level tablespoon). Mix very well again. Add the chopped pepper. Cook for a couple of minute then add half the tomatoes. If you add them all at once you'll cool the mixture and stop the cooking. Mix well. Add half the beans. Mix well. When it's bubbling again add rest of tomatoes followed by the beans. Crumble the stock cube in the empty tomato can. Add about 1" of boiling water. Add some salt and Tabasco (This ensures it's well distributed through the mixture. Stir and then add to the chili.

Now add the real heat. Throw in the chili peppers. I use lethal little ones, about 15 or so. Chuck them in whole, stalks and all. Allow the mixture to bubble for about half an hour to 40 minutes stirring occasionally. Do not cover, you want to lose the water as steam. Turn off the chili and leave for a few hours. I tend to leave it on the stove top so that it continues to get the heat until the stove has cooled down.

By now it should look something like this:



Advice: Try and submerge the chilies while it's "fermenting". You want them flavouring the dish, not floating around like flotsam.

About 40 minutes before you're ready to eat turn the stove on low/medium. Chop the mushrooms and spring onion and add to the chili. Warm gradually to boiling point. Serve.

This chili will burn you twice. Once now and again in the morning. You may wish to place a roll of toilet paper in the freezer as preparation. It also recovers very well from freezing so put any leftovers into containers and into the freezer.

Notes and stuff
I like chili hot (does it show?!) but you can of course make it milder by a) Using a milder variation of chili pepper (General rule, the smaller the hotter), b) less or no chili powder

If you make a mild chili either by design or accident NEVER try to spice it up by adding chili powder just before you serve. Chili powder needs to cook, adding it at the end of the cook time is no good. If you really want to pep it up you can get away with adding chili sauce or Tabasco.

If you make the chili too hot then adding salt helps to ease it, but only if you've gone slightly over

If the spice burns your mouth don't bother gulping at water, chili is not soluble in water. Eating a piece of banana or cucumber will help though.

This recipe doesn't involve chopping the chilis, but if you're cooking something else that does, be careful when you go for a pee. And of course, don't rub your eyes. This is another reason for prepping the onions before you start with the chilis!

You can't really overcook a chili. If you've got longer, leave it longer. Also, once the desired texture is reached you can put it covered in the oven if you want

If you are going to use the over and you've got time to cook for a few hours then cook at a low temperature and use finely chopped beef rather than mince. It's great.

Serving suggestions
With rice, pitta or baked potato. Simple green salad, grated cheese always goes well. Beer.