Chili from scratch

Last Sunday having wound down sufficiently from an excellent night out comprising of first rate Italian Food and even better company I decided to follow the lead of one of the guests at the meal who has a great talent for cooking homemade chili.

The record on the player for this piece of cookery was Neil Young's 1974 dark yet triumphant epic On the Beach which covers topics including divorce, drugs, vampires, music critics, Young's first band and ambulances . The album was unavailable on CD until 2003 which is why it is perhaps one of his most overlooked albums despite being one of his best.

I took three garlic cloves and three red onions and sliced them finely. I find that when making chili the taste of red onions is better suited to the overall flavour of the dish than white onions. I poured some olive oil into the bottom of my Le Cresceut dish and then added the garlic and onions together with half a box of Quorn Mince. At the same time I put half a tea spoon of paprika in the dish together with a hint of chili oil, which was part of a chili gift set two of the guests at the meal the previous night had kindly bought me. When making dishes of this type it is crucial to put your spices in right at the start of the cooking process so as to get the best flavour out of them. I let the ingredients cook on a low light for about ten minutes and stirred them thoroughly on occasion to stop them sticking.

In the meantime I cut up a large yellow pepper and after the spices, onions and garlic had cooked for ten minutes I added the pepper. I let the pepper cook for around twenty-five to thirty minutes. I find pepper can be pretty tricky to cook properly and there is always the danger of under cooking it which then allows it to ruin the dish it is part of. In this case by cooking it for the length of time I did I was able to ensure the pepper was cooked properly.

I next added three quarters of a pint of vegetable stock and a tin of mixed chili beans. I stirred them into the other ingredients and left the contents to cook on a low light for another half and hour so as to be sure the flavours blended together.

This dish is best with rice and on this occasion I served it with some long grain rice that I prepared by boiling it for twenty minutes. The taste of the food was among the best I have experienced this summer: the chili oil and paprika carried a distinct taste without overwhelming the unique taste of the mixed beans and the vegetables. The rice and homemade cheese and onion bread that accompanied the meal were enough to offset effectively the taste of the chili and paprika.

Chili with long grain rice -a winning combination