Bloke wants to cook chilli without cheating!

Rebob

If you cook it for longer, in the sc the flavours are usually richer (nicer).

Smiley_Mum

mrbadexample wrote:

Wrong thread! We've done that one here :rotfl:

Don't knock the cheese sauce, alongside chilli. The recipe for mexican chilli stacks came from a Creative Cookery book by Readers Digest and it's very much tried and tested.

You'd be best to brown the meat and then just throw everything into the slow cooker, like mentioned above the flavours are a lot better.

Cumin powder, two level teaspoons is what I use for about 1/2 a kg of mince.

As for chilli, I don't use fresh chillies, I put in medium strength Tesco chilli powder about a teaspoon and that is spicey enough, and my 4 and 6 year old eat it no problem, it's not mouth numbingly hot or anything but still a good flavour. Any more and I don't think they would. All depends on how hot/spicey you like your food. If you want to live dangerously then put in another teaspoon on top but you don't want to make it inedible. I did use green chillis at one time along with a half teaspoon of chilli powder and it was pretty firey, kids were struggling, so reverted back to just powder.

For a healthy option - for another day you could use ground chicken or turkey and use cannellini beans (white kidney beans) instead but with all the same other ingredients etc, just to save on the saturated fat etc. Just if you tend to eat a lot of red meat etc, would be a healthier meal.

Refried beans are just pinto beans fried in bacon fat, they are very good on the side and they have a good smokey flavour too.

I'd use fresh garlic, I wouldn't use the VL garlic that you currently have but that's just me...you're the one that's going to be eating the stuff.

mrbadexample

Well...I might venture into cheese sauce territory at some point, but I want to get the basic dish right first!

And don't worry about the V.L. Garlic, it's in some sort of vinegar and therefore cannot possibly go off! I've got to use it up at some point.

And I do like it with a little "kick", shall we say? :rotfl:

The "healthy" option looks like it's worth a go at some point. :cool: :T

Smiley_Mum

Just had a look on Delia's site but she doesn't have a beef chilli to follow but does have this chicken one which you could try at a later date depending on the success of this one...

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/chicken-chilli-with-cheese,1811,RC.html

Curry_Queen

mrbadexample wrote:

So presumably that's your reward for popping round and cooking it for me?

You wish!!! :rotfl:

You can cook and I'll come round and do the taste test

The chocolate is my secret ingredient (not so secret anymore though is it LOL!) and I always add a couple of squares of the dark 70% stuff to my chilli and let it melt through :drool:

Wirenth

Try this one MBE:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=477992#post477992

My housemate has made it many times and hasn't managed to poison me (yet).

Provided you brown the meat off and fry the spices a while, it is suited to the slow cooker. We've also substituted the mince for stewing steak, but if you do this, you need to double the spices.

nabowla

Oh dear, oh dear. You do realise you're going to have to make a Big Decision before you start, don't you? Will you use mince or stewing steak? What a dilemma for a novice cook ...........

Personally I swear by Delia's recipe. Wish I had it to hand. However, the key things to remember are:

1. Use stock rather than tinned tomatoes. If you use tomatoes it's going to taste like spaghetti bolagnese with chilli (I'm speaking from experience here)
2. Don't, I repeat don't, rub your eyes whilst cutting up the chilli. Unless you want a quick visit to the doctor, of course. You could always cheat and get some lazy chilli in a jar.
3. Have a glass of water to hand just in case you decide to conduct a taste test and it's a bit hotter than you thought it was going to be........

mrbadexample

nabowla wrote:

Oh dear, oh dear. You do realise you're going to have to make a Big Decision before you start, don't you? Will you use mince or stewing steak? What a dilemma for a novice cook ...........

No dilemma...I have mince but no steak. Maybe next time? :rotfl:

nabowla wrote:

1. Use stock rather than tinned tomatoes. If you use tomatoes it's going to taste like spaghetti bolagnese with chilli (I'm speaking from experience here)

Well, I've always put tomatoes in my chillies before, and it works fine for me.

nabowla wrote:

You could always cheat and get some lazy chilli in a jar.

Yeah, that's what I've got. They're a bit old though.

nabowla wrote:

3. Have a glass of water to hand just in case you decide to conduct a taste test and it's a bit hotter than you thought it was going to be........

Too hot? :rotfl: That's something other people say! I can eat anything.

skintchick

THis is what I do:

Chop an onion and some garlic while cooking mince in a pan. Then add them when the meat is done. Add cayenne pepper and cook it in well.

While they're cooking, chop some peppers (or use frozen peppers). Add them.
Chop some mushrooms and add them.

Add some kidney beans.

Add chopped tomatoes.

Add mixed herbs

Add some stock concentrate and/or a few gravy granules (just deepens the flavour, not strictly necessary.

Sometimes I add sweetcorn but you don;t seem to like it!

simmer while cooking rice

But it is better the next day if you can wait! This makes loads - about three or four meals for a very greedy me!!


HTH

mrbadexample

MBE went shopping and now has the following:

Oregano
Ground cumin
Paprika (went for that instead of cayenne, and still want to know the difference :rolleyes:)
Tabasco sauce
Worcestershire sauce (just thought I should have some)
Tomato puree

This is much trickier than I first expected.

I was thinking of browning the beef with the onions, chucking it in the SC with the tin of tomatoes and maybe ½ pint stock, then throwing in the peppers and mushrooms and letting it get on with it. Will that work? I've only ever cooked it in a pan before. I mean, if I've got to fry up the peppers and mushrooms too, then I might as well do the lot in the pan...but I'm trying to learn how to use the SC while it's still new and shiny and not broken.

But the herbs etc...how much of what do I add and when?

What about salt / pepper and anything else I've forgotten?

Please help coz I'm really hungry. :drool: