The chilli

I play the major role in the kitchen of our home, but there are a few staples that are in the boyfriend’s domain. For example, steak. Both my education in biotechnology—and the unavoidable familiarity of all types of pathogen microbes—as well as my traditional upbringing—we never ate raw meat—combine to produce a chef unable to stop cooking a piece of meat until it is cooked through. Consequently, if I prepare a steak for you, you will be chewing on a shoe sole. 

Another one of the boyfriend’s staples is chilli. This dish is not too photogenic, but to compensate, it is quite tasty. 

The finished product, just before serving.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

– Olive oil
– 1 onion, chopped
– 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
– 500 g lean minced beef, room temperature
– 200 ml red wine
– 400 g can chopped tomatoes
– 150 g tomato sauce/ketchup
– 1 red chilli
– 1tsp ground cumin
– 1tsp ground coriander
– a good shake of Worcestershire sauce
– 1 beef stock cube, crumbled
– salt and pepper
– 400 g (1can) red kidney beans, drained

Garlic. Very healthy.

Onion. Very healthy.

Chilli. Very healthy.

Method

1. Mix the chopped chilli, one spoon of tomato concentrate, ketchup, canned tomato, cumin, coriander, beef stock cube, and a good grind of salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and sauté the onions and garlic until softened.
3. Season the beef mince with salt and pepper.
4. Increase the heat in the saucepan, push the onions to the sides of the saucepan and add the beef mince. Make sure that the meat is covering the base of the pan. Leave for about 5 min, so that the meat seals underneath, being careful that the onions do not burn.
5. Once the meat is cooked through with the heat from one side, start mixing it every few minutes, for about 10 minutes, until it starts sticking to the pan. 
6. Add wine. 
7. Once the wine has reduced to virtually nothing, add the tomato mixture and bring to a boil. 
8. Put the chilli in a slow cooker, add the beans, and leave on high for three and a half hours. (Alternatively, cook for about 1 hour on the stove with occasional stirring, adding the beans in the last 15 min of cooking.) 
9. At the end of cooking, check for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
10. Serve with rice or warm baguette.