Chilli Con Carne

Quite possibly my favourite recipe of all time.

This recipe is very closely based on one from Kelly Brodsky’s disturbing, fantastic, extremely dated Food for Lovers (ISBN 0 207 12291 1). The book was only released once, in 1971, as far as I’m aware, and is now quite close to being a topic which defeats Google, so I figure I’m quite safe to reproduce a single customised recipe here, in a hopefully more legible form than the original.

1 kg beef mince
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 green capsicum, sliced
1 cup chopped bacon
1 375g tin diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1½ cups beef stock
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon plain flour
½ teaspoon oregano
a pinch of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of chilli powder
a pinch of basil
1 375g tin of red kidney beans, drained
a dash of lemon juice
water
salt

(For rice: cooked rice for two, 1 tablespoon butter, 2 tablespoons chopped parsely)

Heat olive oil in a deep non-stick frypan, brown the chopped onion and garlic, add the mince and brown it thoroughly. Once browned, transfer to a stock-pot with a lid, and add capsicum, bacon, tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock and the bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Now, in a small bowl combine flour, oregano, cayenne, chilli powder and basil. Add enough warm water to make a thin paste, and stir until smooth. Add to the meat mixture, stirring promptly. Add red kidney beans, and simmer for another half hour.
Just before serving, stir in a dash of lemon juice and salt to taste.

Serve over steaming hot rice which has had butter and parsley stirred through it.

This stuff freezes and microwaves beautifully, and will also keep well in the fridge. It seems to get hotter and tastier when reheated.