Chile Con Carne

One pot meals are my favourite thing to cook, if I haven't mentioned it already. I love it when you can chuck everything in a pot and leave it to cook until you are ready, and if you aren't ready then you can just leave it in there until you are.

This meal is nothing fancy, but it is very tasty, especially when you add some sour cream and avocado at the end.

I think next time I make it I will use chuck steak instead, so there are tender chunks of meat in the sauce.


Start off with some onion and garlic

Spices - Cayenne, Cumin and Coriander - the three C's

Some Beef Mince - this mince was really lean, which I didn't like. Make sure you get some juicy mince.

Throw in some tomato and kidney beans, and then add Jalapenos at the end. I love Jalapenos

Wait for a while

Then eat! Not the most glorious looking photo, I know. But it was very good.

Chile Con Carne

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 tbs peanut oil
1 brown onion, halved, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs ground coriander
2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
600g lean beef mince
1 x 400g can Italian diced tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 x 300g can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
2 tbs drained, chopped jalapeno chillies (Old El Paso brand) (optional)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 x 250g carton light sour cream
3 green shallots, ends trimmed, diagonally thinly sliced
2 tbs chopped fresh coriander leaves

Method

1. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes or until onion softens. Add ground cumin, ground coriander and cayenne pepper (omit pepper if cooking for kids) and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

2. Add mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 5 minutes or until it changes colour. Stir in diced tomato, tomato paste and kidney beans.

3. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in chilli (omit if cooking for kids). Taste and season with salt and pepper.

4. Meanwhile, combine the sour cream, three-quarters of the green shallots and the coriander leaves in a small bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

5. Spoon chilli con carne into bowls. Top with a dollop of the sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with remaining green shallots. Serve immediately.