Chili Con Carne, Tortilla, Salsa, Guacamole

Photo by Jun Pang

One of my favourite things to eat is chili! I have grown up eating chili since I can remember.  As a kid, I remember eating our meals around a huge table which my grandmother would cook for.  I had aunts, uncles, cousins and sisters around that table, including my grandmother, who would share a chair with me.  As I ate, I remember the many condiments that accompanied every meal. These included things like, finely chopped garlic and crushed white pepper in cane vinegar, fish sauce and chopped chili and garlic in a mixture of soy and cane vinegar all in little separate dishes for every one to share.  Amongst that were little, bright, shiny red chilies left whole.  These were for the “game” people, the slightly more chili crazy members of the family.  They would take one of these deadly, birdseye chillies and place it on the side of their plates.  They would break off a tiny bit of this deadly hot chili and add to their next mouthful of food.  I always cringed at the pain they put themselves through as they breathed in through their tightly gritted teeth then puckering their lips as they suck in air to cool their lips.  It was a slightly amusing ritual, mouthful of food followed by chili followed by their attempts to cool their lips and then a sip of ice cold water then back to the start.  They would do this over and over again with sweat beading off their foreheads and as soon as the last mouthful of food is consumed, they rush off away from the table and walk around to try and cool down. I began eating chili by eating slightly tamer chillies than the deadly birdseye chili.  I slowly climbed up the “chili” scale, attempting the hotter chillies as time went on and my palate got used to flavour and the heat.  Now, I can eat chili just like the aunts and aunties I once watched in amazement as a child.  I love chillies in just about everything like pastas.  Some red sauces in pastas just need that heat especially in alioli sauces.  Curries must have chillies, and some refreshing tropical Asian salads must have chillies in them like a Thai Larb or Vietnamese salad with Nuoc Nam dressing. In the Philippines, chili is a huge part of our cuisine but more as a condiment.  Mixed generally in soy and cane vinegar along with chopped garlic.  In dishes like sinigang, chillies are sometimes added half way through their cooking to impart flavours and once cooked the chillies suck in the flavours of the broth and become plump and flavoursome themselves.  The chillies are then fished out and added to fish sauce where the chillies are crushed and then used as a condiment for sinigang.  Usually we would add a few to stat with because it is a prized surprise for most Filipinos! I love this recipe because you can control the amount of heat.  I love to use as many different chillies as I possibly can, the hotter the better.  The secret here is to make sure you saute the vegetables off well to get the natural sugars to come out.  Secondly, seal the meat “hard” on a really hot pan and thirdly, cook the chili for as long as you can, adding water to the pot if it gets too dry.  The longer you cook it the better.  And no secrets here when I say it, but make it two or three days in advance.  The longer you allow it to sit, the better the flavours get, allowing it time to develope just like you do with curries, casseroles and other braised dishes. Enjoy this recipe and in following recipes, I will show you how to use the chili in other ways!

Photo by Jun Pang

Chili Con Carne, Tortilla, Salsa, Guacamole Serves 8 For the Con Carne 2kg Lean Beef Mince 100ml Vegetable Oil 2 Brown Onions – finely diced 1 bulb Garlic – finely chopped 5 Large Red Chillies – finely sliced 3 tblsp Ground Cumin 4 tblsp Chili Flakes 2 tblsp Chili Powder 1 tblsp Smoked Paprika 2x140gr Tomato Puree 2x800gr Tin Chopped Tomatoes Sea Salt – to taste Ground White Pepper – to taste For the Salsa 4 Large Ripe Tomatoes – diced 1cm cubes ½ Red Onion – peeled & diced ½ cm cubed 1 Bunch Coriander – finely chopped 2 tblsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) Sea Salt – to taste Ground White Pepper – to taste Guacamole 4 Avocados – peeled, slightly mashed with a fork ½ Red Onion – peeled & diced ½ cm cubed 1 Lemon – juiced 1 tsp Tabasco Sauce Sea Salt – to taste Ground White Pepper – to taste   For the Tortilla 16 Tortilla Wrappers 1 Cup Grated Cheddar ½ Iceberg Lettuce – finely sliced 1 Cup Sour Cream Method For the Con Carne

1. Heat up a large pot on high heat for one minute, then add a third of the vegetable oil
2. Place half the minced meat into the pot, seal and lightly brown the meat, set aside.  Repeat with the remaining meat
3. Heat the pot once again on high for thrity seconds and add the remaining vegetable oil
4. Add the onions and sauté, continuously stirring for one minute then add garlic and sauté for another minute
5. Add the chopped fresh red chillies and sauté for another minute
6. Add the cumin and stir through then chilli flakes, chili powder and smoked paprika and stir through
7. Add the tomato paste and cook whilst stirring for another minute, cook out the puree
8. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil then once at simmer, add the sealed meat and stir through
9. Cook for one hour on really low, making sure to stir it every 5 minutes or so

10. Season to taste For the Salsa

1. Place tomatoes, red onions and coriander in a bowl and mix thoroughly
2. Add EVOO and season to taste

  Guacamole

1. Place the avocados, lemon juice and red onion a bowl and mix through
2. Season to taste then add the Tabasco sauce

For the Tortilla

1. Toast the tortilla on a dry pan.  If you are doing large batches, toast then place it on plate then cover it with a towel moistened with warm towel
2. Place con carne on the tortilla, cheese, salsa, lettuce and sour cream

Make cooking easy but tasty.  Use this recipe and I’ll show you what you can do with the let overs in the coming editions.

Photo by Jun Pang