Sunday 20 April 2008
I made a chili con carne that I am quite happy with. M seems to approve too.
2 pounds of round steak with crushed black pepper, grilled to medium, cubed to bite size.
vegetable oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 celery heart, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 can chicken broth (prefer beef, but it's what I had)
2 cans stewed tomatoes
Cumin, several dashes
Oregano, a few dashes
Coriander, a few dashes
2 bay leaves
6 red dried chilies [washed, toasted, split, de-stemmed, de-seeded, soaked in hot water till soft {rinsed halfway, discarded water}]
1 can black beans, drained
1 can red bean, drained
Heat kettle; add oil, then onion and stir occasionally until translucent; add celery, carrots, garlic; continue heating and stirring until celery softens; add broth, spices and water from chilies and chilies; stir and heat 5 minutes; add tomatoes; stir and heat 5 minutes; add steak. Heat medium for an hour or more, stirring regularly; Add beans and heat medium low for another 30 minutes or more, stirring regularly. Serve over rice or noodles with cheese and bread. I left the chilies mostly whole and removed them and the bay leaves from the final dish.
Cilantro was noticeably missing.
