If America had a national dish, it would not be apple pie, but chili. It's also the signature dish of many English engineering students bent on self destruction. This version, albeit with chilies taking the place of "chili powder" evolved in the English midlands, however, whilst researching chili recipes, I found an identical one in a collection of recipes which was sitting on a shelf in Texas and dated 1915. There are many variations on the "chili" theme. It works well with mince, but using stewing or braising steak is worth the extra effort and not much more expensive.
Time: 30 minutes preparation, cooking two hours
Ingredients (Serves 4 students or 8 adults)
2 lb (900 gm) of Braising or Stewing Beef
8 oz (200 gm) of Red kidney beans.
Two onions
One celery stick
One green pepper
A 450 gm tin of chopped tomatoes (or 1 lb (500 gm) or real ones)
Between two and ten jalapeno type chilies (green and a couple of inches
long)
A few cloves of garlic (optional)
A handful of chopped
leaf coriander.
2 Tablespoons of oil for frying.
Equipment: Cast iron pot with lid or oven proof casserole and a frying pan
Method
The red kidney beans should be soaked for a few hours before adding to the pot, simmering gently for an hour has much the same effect. If all else fails, use a tin.
If you have an big iron pot, this is a classic one pot recipe, if not do the initial softening in a frying pan and and do the final cooking in an oven proof casserole.
Roughly chop the garlic, onion, celery and green pepper, then heat the oil in the bottom of the pot and soften them for a few minutes. While this is going on, finely chop the chilies, taking care to keep hands away from mouth, nose, eyes etc. add these to the pot and then wash hands, knife and chopping board.
Cut the meat into one inch lumps, the add it to the pot together with the beans and the chopped tomatoes.
Cook gently on a low light for two hours, stirring every 20 to 30 minutes to prevent sticking and burning. If you are using an oven, gas mark 5 is about right.
Towards the end of the cooking period, add the chopped coriander leaves, keeping a few back for garnish.
Comment
Serve with rice. Any green chili will work but the variations in "heat" are great, err on the side of caution - women don't have the same macho attitude to chili that men do and this recipe can complicate life if not cooked considerately.
Page Updated: 6th July 2001