Today I give you one of my
all-time favourite “stews“ which I've been making for almost twenty years now: my
chili con carne with
avocado salsa. I'm sure all (or
most of you) have your own recipe that you swear by (and here's a really interesting
article from
The New York Times on this topic this week) but please give my version a try: the combination of black beans instead of kidney beans,
finely chopped beef instead of mince and a few squares of dark
chocolate transport this easy casserole to another culinary level! I
got the idea of using the beans and steak combo from Delia Smith's
"Winter Collection" cookbook, but her recipe was bereft of any spices, so I added
my own sumptuously deep and smoky combination - heavenly! (This was in the days when “Delia“ was still
a trusted-if-staid-force to be reckoned with in the kitchen –
before she inexplicably crossed over to the “other side“ with her
mad promotion of kitchen shortcuts using frozen mash – and tinned
mince...)
450 g dried black beans
900 g stewing steak, cut
into very small pieces*
1 large bunch
of fresh coriander
4 medium onions
2 garlic cloves
2 green/red chillies,
de-seeded and chopped (optional)
1 tbsp sweet smoked
paprika
2 heaped tsp ground
coriander
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
4 tablespoons oil
1 rounded tbsp plain flour
4 tins (400
g) chopped tomatoes
15g dark chocolate,
chopped
1 red pepper
juice of ½
lime
seasoning
1 ripe, firm avocado,
diced
4 tomatoes,
de-seeded and diced
½ red onion, finely chopped
juice ½ lime
sasoning
crème fraîche or
plain yoghurt to serve
Either pre-soak the beans overnight or
start this recipe 3 hours ahead of time and
begin by placing the beans in a large saucepan, covering them with
cold water and boiling them for 10 minutes.
Then turn the heat off and let them soak for 3
hours.
Pre-heat the
oven to 180°C/160°C
fan oven. Strip the leaves off the coriander stalks and
set aside.
Chop the
coriander stalks, onions, chillies and garlic
finely (I use the food processor).
Heat half of the oil
in a large casserole and cook the onion mix
together with the spices gently for about 5 minutes, then
transfer to a plate.
Heat the rest of
the oil on high, add about a third of the
beef and brown it well. Then remove and brown the rest in two
batches.
Add the onion mix
to the casserole and sprinkle in the flour, stir it in to soak up the
juices, then add the drained beans and
tomatoes. Add the chocolate, stir well and
bring it up to simmering point. Don't add any seasoning
at this stage – just put the lid on and cook in
the oven for 2 hours.
Meanwhile
de-seed and chop the pepper into smallish pieces. Then, when the time
is up, add to the casserole, stir well
again, put the lid back on and cook for a further 30 minutes.
Before serving add the
lime juice and seasoning if necessary.
For the salsa combine all
ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Serve the chilli with
plain white rice or baked potatoes and the coriander leaves sprinkled over.
(serves 8 - 10)
Notes:
*It really doesn't take long to chop the beef by hand, but you can, of course, do this in a food processor - just pulse for a few seconds each time (so as not to turn it all into a mushy pulp).
Like any other stew or casserole this is even better when prepared a day (or two or three) in advance as the flavours just keep improving in the fridge!
