Bonfire Fodder - Buffalo Chilli

 

If I was having one of those bonfire type gatherings, this would be my food of choice, because it is easy to scale up or down, looks as well atop a jacket potato as it does on some fluffy rice, and warms your bones as you stand out watching hundreds of thousands of pretty sparks shoot across an inky sky. Of course, some carefully chosen alcohol would also keep you warm against the cold, but it doesn't keep your hands warm as you wrap your hand around the glass, whereas a bowl of this stuff warms you inside and out, and tastes splendid.

 

Buffalo. I am not deliberately trying to be fancy. The fact is, it was at the back of the freezer, almost in the permafrost (I need to defrost the freezer) and I bought it because it was cheap. In reality, this is how I acquire the vast majority of some of the weirder ingredients in my freezer - if it has a yellow sticker, then it will be bought for some point in the future, and as far as the buffalo is concerned, that point has now been reached. You could obviously use diced beef; It would still be tremendous.

 

I kept the chilli reasonably tame because of Lola and Finn who aren't fond of eating anything which feels like it should be on fire. You should be far more liberal if fire eating happens to be your thing.

 

If you cook this really slow, you should produce unctuous chunks of beef which you theoretically cut with a spoon, and like most dishes of this nature, it is amazingly good the day after. And if you really go for it you could freeze vats of the stuff to be eaten on another random winter night, minus fireworks, when you need something to defrost your bones.

 

 

Buffalo Chilli, loosely based on any recipe or any version of chilli or a stew that I have ever made.

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad, plus 1 other, generously

 

Ingredients:

 

1 chipotle chilli

4 tbsp. olive oil

3 peppers - I went for all red - diced

1 onion, diced

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

1 fresh green chilli, deseeded if you like, finely chopped

800g diced buffalo (or diced beef)

3 garlic cloves

250ml beef stock

1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

2 x 400g tinned tomatoes

3 x 400g tins of kidney beans

1 tbsp. fresh coriander stalks

 

Method:

 

 

 

Soak the chipotle chilli in a few tablespoons of water until it is soft. Whilst this is happening, you should crack on with the rest of the method.

 

Heat 2 of the tbsp. of oil in a suitable pot/pan that will be big enough to take all the ingredients later on.

 

 

 

Add the onion, the peppers, the chilli, the coriander stalks and the celery with some salt and saute until soft but not coloured.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

 

 

 

Put the rest of the oil into the pan and then add the meat. You should cook the buffalo until it is well browned; consider doing this in a couple of batches as you want the beef to brown, not steam. Add the chopped garlic and a little bit of salt and pepper. Cook the garlic only until fragrant and then add the beef stock. Deglaze the pan with the stock and bring it to the boil.

 

Return the pepper mixture to the pan and add the herbs and spices.

 

 

 

Add the tomatoes and the kidney beans and some seasoning. You will need a good amount of seasoning so don't be shy.

 

Lastly, remove the chipotle chilli from the soaking liquid and chop finely. Add this and the soaking liquid to the mixture and stir well.

 

 

 

I simmered this, covered with a tightly fitting lid, on a really low heat for a couple of hours, checking it now and then to ensure it wasn't boiling dry. After a couple of hours gentle simmering, I removed the lid and raised the heat to reduce the sauce to the consistency that I like.

 

 

In times of crisis, go back to what you know. Chilli con Carne

 

 

I say 'crisis', but it's all relative and my type of crisis is nothing compared to some in the world  - and at this point can I encourage you to give as much as you can to the likes of the Red Cross, Oxfam and UNICEF and other tremendous organisations who I try to support on a regular basis because of their great work with the needy. It's important to know sometimes that the world does not end at your front door. Anyway, that said, my 'crisis' should probably be re-categorised as 'minor hiccup' and it's all about the fact that there has been too much of mum going to Iceland (or insert any other frozen food shop/ freezer aisle of a supermarket here) and whilst I alluded to the fact in my last blog post that my love affair with a Birds Eye chicken pie really does go on and actually I don't mind battered fish, oven chips and beans, I really should be cooking something of a weekend to sustain us through the week, using fresh ingredients and just a little bit of effort. And the fact is, for me at least, it is not just about food that is good for you, but food that is good for my soul. Cooking actually de-stresses me; just a shame that my job doesn't allow me that time to de-stress, hence my regular visits to the supermarket for something that was made earlier.

 

So this weekend I went back to what I know, and have spent the last four hours creating those go to dishes; those crowd pleasers that you can make a vat of and it tastes so much better the next day and the day after. Shepherds' pie x 2 have been cooked and fridged, a ragu of some sad looking stuff in the vegetable drawer of the fridge has been concocted and there is a chicken casserole blipping away in the oven (and who knows, I might throw a lid of pastry over it later in the week and pretend it was made by Birds Eye) but the success is the chilli. Parties in my youth were centred around a chilli, ladled out over some fluffy rice, containing enough ballast to soak up any alcohol excess, and it is the sort of food that almost makes you glad about the onset of winter, as you curl up on the couch, hugging a bowl of the stuff, watching it go dark earlier and earlier. And it tastes good the next day. And if you're going to make one serving of it, you may as well make several, so on we go.

 

This is a doubled up recipe from 'Ministry of Food' by Jamie Oliver. Other chillis are available.

 

Chilli con Carne, adapted from Jamie's 'Ministry of Food' by Jamie Oliver

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad twice. (Please note, I doubled the ingredients below to feed 12 people - and us for a long, long time!)

 

Ingredients:

 

2 medium onions

2 cloves garlic

2 medium carrots

2 sticks celery

2 red peppers (didn't use)

olive oil

1 heaped teaspoon chilli powder

1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

400 g tinned chickpeas

400 g tinned red kidney beans

2 x 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes

500 g quality minced beef

1 small bunch fresh coriander

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

 

 

Method:

 

Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery.

 

Halve the red peppers, (if using) remove the stalks and seeds and roughly chop.

 

 

Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat. Add 2 glugs of olive oil and all your chopped vegetables.

 

 

 

Add the chilli powder, cumin and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.

 

Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes.

 

 

Add the minced beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon. (Should just say, I browned my mince first in a separate pan. I am not a fan of grey looking mince). 

 

Fill one of the empty tomato tins with water and pour this into the pan. Pick the coriander leaves and place them in the fridge.

 

Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in.

 

Add the balsamic vinegar and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.

 

Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it catching.

 

Doritos!

 

Serve with rice and all the other accompaniments you might like. No guacamole fans here unfortunately, but we do open a bag of Doritos and dive in!