Chilli - American Style

As a huge fan of most things American (good thing too eh, what with me being here!) I looked forward to trying american style recipes...you know the ones...pound cake, meatloaf...

So whilst watching an episode of the Barefoot Contessa (great series, huge fan of Ina Garten - she makes cooking very easy) she happened to make chilli. Now, Hubby loves chilli, probably his second favourite dish (lasagna being the first) so I watched with interest as she made the dish.

Firstly, they don't use minced beef (maybe they do in other areas of the US but this particular recipe didn't call for it)...they use a stewing beef and they leave it to cook for two hours! It looked really lovely and I thought I'd try it...but me being me, I didn't exactly follow her directions and made a few adjustments....

Ingredients
1lb of stewing beef cut into medium chunks
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2tbsp of tomato puree
1 shallot, diced
2 spring onions (or scallions!), chopped
1 large garlic clove chopped finely
1tbsp of butter
1tbsp of oil
1tsp plus a dash of cumin (powder)
1tsp of paprika
1tsp chilli flakes (rounded tsp!)
1 can of red kidney beans
1 green or red pepper (I used half of one and half of the other)
1tsp of parsley (dried or fresh)
salt & pepper to season

Method
1. brown the beef in the oil and remove from pan
2. saute the onions (both kinds) with the garlic and butter
3. add the cumin, paprika, parsley and chilli, fry for a few minutes
4. add the beef back in and cook together for a few minutes
5. add the tomatoes and puree, season, mix throughly
6. add enough water to the beef mixture so its about an inch and half above the meat
7. simmer for minimum of 11/2 hours. Check occasionally the water level and to stir. Meat should be fork tender at this point
8. add green/red peppers and kidney beans
9. cook for a further 1/2 an hour

Serve with rice and grated cheese on top

Hubby enjoyed it. He said that he wasn't used to chunks of meat in a chilli but it was a pleasant change...(I'm paraphrasing...Hubby doesn't readily use the word 'pleasant'!) Oh and by the way it makes a lot so there is plenty to stick in the freezer for those days when you couldn't be bothered to cook!

Enjoy..!