Neil - how about a chili recipe???
 

Hi Neil

Your recipe for chili with no tomatoes sounds good - how about posting it for us to try.

Thanks

OK, LN - by popular demand!

I found this recipe in a magazine in a coffee shop, but the waitress was watching me so I couldn't rip the page out or steal the mag and had to memorise it as best I could. So it's a case of some care but definitely no responsibility. (I think the mag said it was adapted from Time-Life's "American Cookery".)

Tablespoon measures are metric, i.e. 1 tbsp = 20 ml (I think an American tbsp is 15 ml?).

The dried chillies minus seeds will produce a dish that's not too hot, hence the optional addition of fresh chillies if you want more thrills. I'm not sure what an ancho chilli is - haven't seen them in Australia unless they're called by a different name. Jalapenos might substitute?

Texas Chile con Carne

500g dried pinto or borlotti beans
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
Chicken stock

Oil for frying (the original recipe calls for shredded beef suet)
2 kg (4-1/2 lb) shin beef or chuck steak, dice into 2 cm/1 inch cubes
2 large onions, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves garlic
4 tbsp paprika
5 tsp dried oregano
4 bay leaves
15 large dried chillies
3 fresh ancho chillies (optional)
1.5 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp yellow cornmeal (polenta)

White rice (1/3-1/2 cup uncooked rice per person depending on appetites)

Cook the beans gently in butter, lemon juice and stock until tender.

Break up the dried chillies, discard the seeds and soak in hot water for 30 minutes.

Brown the diced beef in oil in batches, set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

Toast the cumin seeds in a small pan, stirring or shaking constantly to avoid burning, then grind to a powder in a blender. Add the onions, garlic, paprika, vinegar, chillies plus the soaking water and blend to a puree.

Combine the steak and puree in a large pot, bring to the boil, then lower heat, cover and cook gently until the meat is tender (1½ - 2 hours).

To cook rice: put rice in in the pot, add 2 cups stock for every cup of rice, bring to the boil, stirring, then lower heat, cover tightly and cook very gently for 10-15 minutes. When all the liquid has been absorbed, turn off the heat and let it sit for another 5-10 minutes. A flame spreader helps if you have a gas stove.

Re-heat the beans if necessary. Serve the chile, rice and beans in serving bowls. Alternatively, the beans can be added to the meat to heat through just before serving.

The dried chillies minus seeds will produce a milder dish than you might think, hence the optional addition of fresh chillies if you want a hotter dish.

It sounds wonderful Neil!! Thanks for taking the time to post it.
Ellen

Thanks Neil - don't know how you remembered all that without nicking the mag. page. What sort of dried chillies do you use?. The recipe is very similar to one I used to make in Sydney and is indeed delicious. It specified California or New Mexico chillies which I can't find in Cairns and could only find in DJ's in Sydney. Apparently substitutes are anchos, pasillas, negros - can't find them here either - only the very hot Asian chillies.

No probs, Ellen. Pat, I just buy a bag of dried long chillies from the local Asian grocery store - I think they come from Vietnam.

Hi Pat and Neil

Regarding Ancho chilies

Ancho chilies are dried poblanos. Anchos are sweet and range in flavor from mild to pungent. The rich, slightly fruit-flavored ancho is the sweetest of the dried chilies.

Hope this helps!! Hubby and I love spicy foods and that recipe looks sooo good!!

Hi LN - I know, that's why this recipe is so good. Problem is they're hard to find here, well Cairns, anyway - have even resorted to asking US guests to bring me some - declaring at quarantine of course.

Many thanks, Ellen. So, how would you compare a poblano/ancho to a jalapeno? The chillies we get here are either the fresh grown-in-Australia kind or dried, from Asia. I'm not surprised that Pat had trouble finding chillies from America. Fresh jalapenos are becoming more common, but still relatively pricey. There's also the vicious habanero, shaped like a small capsicum (bell pepper) and the violent little birdseye type. The rest are mainly the larger, longer type, about mid-strength.

Unfortunately my good wife and I don't quite see eye to eye on this, so I end up compromising when I cook. To make matters worse she doesn't like fresh coriander (cilantro). What's a man to do?

Neil, Jalapenos are hotter than anchos which as LN says are sweet and mild.

Something from Thailand should produce some good heat.

I wonder if I could send ground NM chile in powder form to any of you who want it down under and not fall afoul of customs.

If you can get it cleared I'll send it.

AndrewDavid

A/D, a very kind offer - maybe some Tim Tams in return? I'll have to check the Customs website but I don't think that chilli powder would be a problem. Not all foodstuffs are banned - I've had mixed results (eg Vietnamese coffee beans OK, Chinese mooncakes not).
/Neil

Ah! good to see others on this board like chilli dishes. The mudcrabs are just starting to appear in the seafood shops in the Bay, so I will be preparing my favourite meal....Chilli mudcrab. First tasted this dish in Singapore.

Andrew - that's a lovely offer - I won't do a Tim Tam swap because right now they'd melt away just waiting in the post office enroute to airport - how about some offering from Red Ochre - condiments using Australian bush tucker ingredients - quandong, lemon myrtle etc. I just had a look at Red Ochre's website to see what they had to offer - it has the following notation "Due to new USA Government regulations we cannot ship food items to USA. Somehow they think we will upset the trade balance with 50gms of wattleseed" Doesn't mean I can't give it a try though.