The chilli recipe started as one I found in a bodybuilding magazine and I make it a few different ways and I’m afraid never measure any more. Which causes some issues as I’ll mention.
It’s intentionally very simple and uses off the shelf ingredients so I can knock it out from stuff I keep around.
There are only a few ingredients.
- 500g Beef Mince
I use cheap mince and drain the fat off partway through. I’ve tried using the low fat variants, prime and premium, but the texture winds up kind of dry.
- 400g can of kidney beans
Not the giant ones, just a plain tin.
Budget home brands work fine for me.
Open the lid, drain the juice out, fill it with water and repeat a couple of times until the beans are mostly free of gluggy stuff.
Tip the water off before adding.
- 400g can of tomato puree
Better quality, e.g. Watties is best, the tomato flavour is really important, but for a really huge batch for visiting family I’ll use cheap store’s own brands.
- Cumin
Mostly this. A teaspoon or 3?
I take the lid off the jar or packet and shake it in until it looks like enough.
My intention is always to have a warm heat, not a sharp kick, so most of the spice comes from the cumin. The objective is warmth and flavour, not to kill the consumer.
Having said that, I almost always use too much spice and especially too much cayenne and chilli powder and make it too hot for me. Which Lynette always finds funny, she likes it hotter than I do. I have sour cream with it and wipe my eyes and blow my nose a lot.
- Cayenne pepper
Less of this.
Less than a teaspoon?
- Chilli powder
About the same amount as the cayenne pepper
Optionally
I don’t always have these and my family hate mushrooms, so I rarely use them anymore. When I made it just for me I always used them.
- A capsicum.
Green or red, sometimes one of each. Depends what’s in the supermarket.
Chopped coarsely.
I see that you can get frozen capsicums now. I’m going to try those.
- Sliced fresh button mushrooms
i.e. not tinned
Lots. I like mushrooms
I don’t add salt. I started making this when I was leaving salt out of everything and that’s just how I’m used to it.
Cooking options
Slow cooker.
- The simplest version is to bung all of that together in a slow cooker and let it cook on low overnight.
I tend to use less fatty mince or more often cook the mince in the microwave as below and pour the fat off.
This is what I do most often it’s how I do a really big batch.
Microwave
This was the original version.
- Put the mince in a glass casserole dish with a lid and microwave on high for a few minutes.
You’re not trying to cook it all the way through, just render the fat out.
- Pour the fat off.
This is where I’d transfer it to the slow cooker if I was going to.
- Break up the mince up and throw everything else in.
- Microwave it for 30-40 minutes, stirring every so often
Stove top
- Brown the mince in a sauce pan or enamelled dutch oven and pour the fat off.
- Throw everything in and simmer it until dinner time or bed time, stirring enough that it doesn't stick to the bottom.
Ideally bed time, see below.
All versions improve if you can let it cool and sit in the fridge for a night or a day.
The slow cooker version lends itself well to that. I cook it overnight. Pull the slow cooker liner out and let it cool on the bench while get breakfast ready then put it in the fridge for the day and have it for dinner. And leftovers.
It scales up really easily.
I’d tinker with the ration of tomato puree to mince to get the sloppiness you like.
- The slow cooker version needs the least.
- The microwave version stays fairly moist.
- The stove top version needs the most.
Sorry I can’t be more precise.
I should make a batch again soon and confirm ratios.
