Monday, March 06, 2006

Matli's Winner Chili



I’ve been in the mood for chili for quite a while. I love a good chili – not too hot, but still with a warming bite. I’m firmly in the no-beans camp, by the way. Just meat, please! And, for goodness sake.. real meat. In chunks. This recipe uses ground meat too, but that's fine, as long as I get the real stuff as well. And obviously a chili needs to have a lot of.. chili.

When I saw that my old friend Matli had entered – and won! – a Swedish chili competition, I knew I had to try his recipe. And preferably as soon as possible!

I wussed it down a little – you can find his recipe here, at his and his wife Nikka’s charming blog about their hot eating experiences. I knew that I can’t take as much heat as he can – so I used a bit less chili than he did. And a few different kinds – basically what was in my spice rack. The result? Absolutely wonderful. We had it with oven-dried tomatoes, chopped onions, crème fraiche, nacho chips and grated cheese. Delicious!

Chili con carne

1 kg of stewing meat, in large cubes
500 g minced pork
2 medium sized onions, sliced into half moons
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
4 large roughly chopped cloves of garlic
2 large red chilis, chopped
3.5 dl ketchup
2 beef stock cubes
6 dl beer
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp ancho chili powder
2 tbsp chipotle chili powder
3 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp dried oregano
cornstarch - optional

Start by browning the beef cubes, the pork and the onions in oil. Work in batches. Add salt and pepper. Put in a large pot and add all other ingredients. (Except for the cornstarch.) Stir well. Bring to a boil. Put on the lid and simmer slowly for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.

The chili should be thick, with tender chunks of meat. My chili was a little runny, so I cheated and thickened it with cornstarch. It worked wonders. :)

Chili con carne

8 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

I agree with you on the no beans, but some people in my family disagree. I like the addition of the ancho chiles in this recipe - sounds delish.

Anne said...

Kalyn, ancho chilies would probably be great! I used mostly powders, since fresh chilis are.. well, not so easy to come by here. At least not different varieties!

matli said...

I'm glad you liked it! I like the use of chipotle. I have used that too on some occasion. It gives a round and nice smokey flavour.

Anonymous said...

Interesting! I did Chili yesterday too, but mine was all beans! Chili sin carne! I guess the "mad cow" reports of the week had some impact on me (but would probably prefer it "sans" meat nevertheless)

Anyway, I did actually find "fresh" chili easily, just look at your regular ICA: they sell a box of mixed types of chili fruits. You can probably find it in "lösvikt" (sorry don't know the English word) in any other store too, but the mixed box is convenient for chili purposes

Anne said...

Matli, I loved it. And I will definitely experiment more with it. Although, it's pretty perfect as it is. I had friends over when we ate it, and they were in heaven...

eigbg - yeah, I can definitely find fresh chilies, but not - very often - specific kinds. I don't think I've ever seen ancho chilies... regular ones though, and sometimes habaneros. (But they look WAY too strong for me.) :)

Banlieue Blog said...

Hi Anne,
That chili looks fantastic! You've got me in the mood!
Thanks!
Melissa

Gustad said...

looks good! dont forget the cheeeeeeeze

Lena said...

Oh yea! That was the best chili I ever tasted, sooo good! But the odds that I will ever get away with puting beans in the chilli again are small.