Braised Beef Chilli con Carne

Now Christmas is over, I (and the rest of the nation), am dying to eat something ‘normal’. First world problem right? Christmas day was wonderful, but again, I had so much champagne that it got to a point where I couldn’t face drinking anymore – that’s when you know your life is actually pretty good! But today, I had some braising beef that needed using and instead of making a stew, I decided to make a chilli with it. Today was grey, cold and snowy so I wanted to make something tasty and warming – like a lot of my dishes lately! Chilli con Carne isn’t something I eat or make regularly but it turned out to be delicious and the beef was so succulent and tender, it is something I will definitely be making again.It didn’t take long to prep and once it was all in the pot, I just had to leave it to cook on a low heat for 3 hours. I made mine quite spicy as I like a bit of heat, but obviously you can adjust yours accordingly. This recipe serves 4-6 people.Prep time: 15 minutes.Cooking time: 3 hours and 30 minutes.Ingredients:

• 2 medium white onions diced.
• 3 garlic cloves crushed.
• 1 red pepper diced.
• 2 fresh chilli’s sliced (I left the seeds in mine, but if you don’t like it that spicy, make sure you de-seed them!).
• 300ml red wine.
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes.
• 2 tbsp tomato puree.
• 1 tbsp hot chilli powder.
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika – you can use normal paprika, but the smokiness really elevates the chilli.
• 1 packet smoked lardons.
• 500g diced braised beef.
• 1 tin of kidney beans.
• Plain flour.
• Salt and pepper for seasoning.

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a large frying pan. Coat the beef in seasoned plain flour and brown the meat off. Remove from the pan and set to one side.   
2. Add some more oil to the same pan and put on a low heat. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper and chilli. Sweat them off for 15 minutes until they are soft.
3. Add the meat back to the pan and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Add the red wine and reduce by half.   
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika and chilli powder to the beef and cover for 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, heat up a teaspoon of oil and have on a high heat. Crisp up the smoked lardons then add them to the chilli.
7. Drain the kidney beans and add them to the chilli. Cook on a very low heat for 2 and a half hours.
8. Serve with rice, tortilla chips and sour cream.

Enjoy! X