South West Chilli

There was a moment where I swear we must have all woken up after a siesta with the taste of Mexico because there seems to quite a few dishes being cooked in the House of Murray with the Tex Mex flavours.  Don't get me wrong we LOVE it... Mexican food can be so simple to prepare yet so complex in flavours always making the taste buds dance. 

 

While I cannot take credit for this recipe - it's not a "hand me down" family recipe full of secret ingredients - it's actually a combination of internet researched (yes thank God for Google again) recipes and flavours that we like.  I must say that researching Chilli came up with some interesting information.  Many bloggers, especially those located in the Southern USA have their own take on what makes the best chilli - is it the heat?  Is it the texture? Beans or no Beans?  As you can imagine there are many, and I mean many, versions of this dish all differing slightly but all sounding delicious.

 

My favourite Chilli making tip that I stumbled across is to toss a grating of bitter chocolate into chili to give it body and mellow the flavours however I did not do that on this recipe.

 

I do agree with this tip - for maximum flavour, cool chilli and refrigerate overnight so flavours will develop.  It's similar to the fact that curry always tastes better the next day.

 

This is just a perfect meal in a bowl but if you wish you could serve with steamed rice, mashed potato or even boiled pasta.  It's great by itself though and you will be wanting seconds so no real need to fill up on the carbs!!

South West Chilli

Serves: 12

ProPoints per Serve: 8

 

cooking spray

1 kilogram lean beef mince

2 large onions, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon dried ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons chilli powder or to taste

2 x 700 gram jars Passata or tomato puree

2 x 440g tins diced tomatoes

4 cups beef stock

salt

freshly-ground black pepper

2 tablespoons honey

2 x 440 g cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 green capsicums, diced

2 red capsicums, diced

1 cup frozen corn kernels

 

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, spray with cooking spray and sauté ground beef, onion, and garlic until the meat is browned.

 

Add cumin, oregano, chili powder, Passata, tomatoes, and beef stock. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, approximately 3 to 4 hours, stirring often. Additional beef broth, water, or wine may be added as needed.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

 

Add honey, beans, capsicum and corn.  Continue to simmer another 30 minutes, testing and adjust seasoning to taste if required.

Serve topped with 1 tablespoon of reduced fat sour cream (additional 1 ProPoint) and 15 grams grated 50% reduced fat tasty cheese (additional 1 ProPoint).

 

(click here for a printable version of this recipe)