Holiday Chilli

One positive habit I've taken up over the past three years is to save a lot of my holidays for the end of the year. The darker mornings and commutes home in the pitch black can be, even for a self-confessed positive person like me, grueling and tiring. I put my theory into practice this Autumn and Wintertime by taking a holiday on the East Coast. We were blessed by a lot of dry weather, interesting nature, clean beaches and quaint coastal villages, not to mention important company.

Those who'd booked the holiday cottage we stayed in have made lots of sacrifices for me over the years; more perhaps than I appreciated at the time. On the night before I drove home with the dog, I drove not the dog- she can't be trusted with such a big vehicle, I decided to cook for them as they had done so many times for me before I was able to.

The dish I chose was a vegetarian Chili Con Carne. What inspired me to make this, apart from my love of Tex-Mex Cooking, was the discovery in a local seaside supermarket of Blue Corn Tortillas. These were to be the side dish for Chili Con Carne. Blue Corn is grown in Mexico and Southwestern United States. It is often used to make Tortillas. In its natural state the corn cob that it comes from has numerous shades of purple and the patterns make it look like Jackson Pollock has been let loose on it with a variety of purple paints. The Tortillas I used as the side dish for this recipe were largely a uniform colour of Deep Purple.

Somehow Simply Red's 1991 bestseller "Stars" had found itself onto the player. Perhaps the music chosen was to meet the tastes of those I was cooking for. On the other hand perhaps it was due to driving and,fairly, funky numbers like "Thrill Me" and "Something Got Me Started" taking me back to my "Fat Elvis Years" . In those years alcohol consumption was higher, nights out lasted longer, often took place on a Sunday and the job I worked in was uninspiring; even if my colleagues were great to work with.

So to the job in hand, the ingredients sourced for this recipe were as follows:

For the Chili:

15 Tomatoes sliced into quarters. 
5 Shallots, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 
3 Cloves Garlic, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 
3 Sweet Peppers with their tops removed, the seeds removed and sliced into small squares. 
1 teaspoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Smoked Paprika
1 teaspoon of Chili Flakes
1 tablespoon Tomato Purée with Chili.
A packet of Quorn Mince
A tin of Red Kidney Beans

I first fried the spices, Tomatoes, Vegetables and Puree for 35 minutes on a medium heat in Olive Oil in a frying pan. I stirred the ingredients constantly to make sure they didn't stick to the pan. I then added the Quorn Mince and fried the ingredients for a further 20 minutes while stirring the ingredients regularly. Next I added the Kidney Beans and after another 10 minutes the dish was ready.

I served the dish with 12 ounces of boiled White Rice that I'd boiled for 20 minutes so as to make it ready at the same time as the Chili. As well as the Blue Corn Tortillas I had a tub of plain, low fat Greek Yoghurt and some grated Chili Cheese with Lime available as a side dishes. 

The unique and salty taste together with the freshness of the Greek Yoghurt and the sweet spiciness of the Chili Cheese served to enhance the strong but flavoursome and taste of the Chili. It certainly warmed our hearts as the winter inched its way across the courtyard towards our cottage that evening as we ate the meal. 

Purple Days- the Tortilla Chips, Grated Cheese and Greek Yoghurt sit brightly on the bed of Chili and Rice.