Ultimate Chili Beef (Con Carne) tips

Flimber

No Cumin = fail.

Change your avatar immediately Or at least turn the gun 'round

Iccz

Absolutely, I'm all for fresh ingredients etc but things like that just can't be matched really.

GaseousClay

mines gotta have a teaspoon of Marmite in it too

Flimber

Two things I'll say about Chilli Non/Con Carne.

1. Use Cumin from the seed. Toast it in a dry pan and do not grind until it's cool - else midgeons of flavour will attempt to escape in the pungent steamy vapour.

2. Fresh chilli peppers, sliced in the round, added at the end. Your eaters can choose to not consume them if they can't take the heat, or at least not in it's flaming entirety.

3. An unexpected bonus tip. Do not slice your peppers, tear them by hand. Yeah, you'll get sprayed a bit but they looks masses better in the final dish. I also sometimes add them in the raw so they're barely cooked at all; really like the fresh crunch you then get but it's not everyone's bowl of spice. Green peppers really lose their vibrant colour when cooked too.

Mike.

uberammerz

All Tom Tom's ingredients, but I use minced steak, also always use cumin.

GaseousClay

Green peppers are for salads. They taste awful when cooked.

John7

NEVER use chopped tomatoes - make it taste bitter. Always use tomato puree and a good helping of roasted red peppers (chopped)

blue max

My last batch was losely made using Mr Olivers recipe here:
Good Old Chilli Con Carne | Beef Recipes | Jamie Oliver Recipes

I liked the added carrot and particularly the chick peas.

I always used to make it with far too much meat. It actually tastes better with less.

This time it was initially very hot, but after freezing seemed to lose a little of it's fire. But that could be that we were used to it. With soured cream, rice, chips and crusty bread and butter, it didn't seem overly hot. So my tip would be to make it hotter than you would prefer.

Definitely make a batch though. I got eight meals for the two of us (kids won't go near!).

bobflunkit

I always make mine a day or two before I'm going to eat it. It seems to mature really well. Always use cumin, cinnamon stick, chopped braising steak, and about 25g of high % plain chocolate.

Dony

This is the children friendly recipe we use. I normally add 3 birdseye chilli's if the kids are eating something else.

1 lb. ground beef (and/or ground pork/veal)
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. chili powder
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes, petite diced, with juices
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
Sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 can (15 ounces) chili beans, small red beans, or kidney beans, drained and rinsed


Cook first 3 ingredients in a large saucepan until meat is browned, stirring until it crumbles; drain off excess fat.
Add chili powder and next 8 ingredients, stirring well; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1.5 to 2 hours. Add beans, stirring well, and cook until thoroughly heated.