It’s long established that cocoa bean flavours work really well with chilli, such as mole, and coffee is often added out in Mid-West America to “a bowl of red”. So as part of the Lavazza Coffee, Set, Match challenge I thought I’d chuck some in a chilli today! It lends the spicy meat a dark and fruity tone, a really interesting character.
It was also handy using espresso for this chilli as this was all about speed: I got in late and needed to fix up a chilli on the quick. I used a couple of shortcuts to help me get there, caramelized onions and hot sauce to get me a few steps ahead.
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Express espresso chilli (serves 4):
800g beef mince
200g caramelized onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chilli powder
100ml espresso coffee
1 tin tomatoes
200ml beef stock
Get a large casserole pan really hot and add a splash of oil. Brown the mince, in batches if necessary. Add the onions, crush in the garlic and add the spices. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the coffee, tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, pop on a lid and simmer for about 20 -30 minutes until thick, rich and tasty – you may need to add a little salt or vinegar to balance out the flavours (or more chilli if you’re so inclined). Serve with flour tortillas, creme fraiche and a zingy salsa.
I’m a big fan of chilli, I’ve probably cooked it more than anything else. I particularly like ones that sit there and blip away under their own steam for hours. I was looking forward to cooking a chilli tonight.
But I’d had a rotten evening. Little Miss Spud was rotten sick and was in no mood for going to bed. There were many changes of clothes (for me and her), things to wash, bottles to fetch… Eventually she dozed off, and it was time to cook. I reached for the takeaway menus… but didn’t. I had planned on doing a chilli and gosh darnit, a chilli I was going to make.
I floated the idea on Twitter about cooking a chilli in 10 minutes. “Not enough time”, scoffed Gary Dickenson. “It can’t be done!” wailed Food Urchin. “Keep us posted” urged Simon Loves Food. Well, that was that – no turning back now. I had to do it.
The problem is to develop those flavours does take time. There needed to be some sneaky shortcuts in there to amp it up and cut down the cooking time, hence the ingredients list is fairly long – but generally full of store cupboard stuff. The hard bit is that it’s one of those dishes where you keep adding stuff but by bit and each part needs to come back to the simmer. So I drew together some ideas that I’ve flirted with before: frying mince to release the oils and then add the onion to that, and creating a thick tomato paste packed with flavourings to form a flavour base. So I cooked these parts separately and combined them at the end.
And I have to say it was really tasty, and really worth it. Of course it’s not the same as a slow-simmered chilli ticking away for hours, and it would’ve been nice to stick some kidney beans in there (I just didn’t have any to hand) to nod back to the ‘usual’ recipe. But it’s a good alternative and great for busy weekday evenings. Oh, and it came out at 11 minutes rather than 10, but I can live with that.
11 minute chilli (serves 2):
400g beef mince
Two cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 onion, peeled and sliced into half-moons
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
A large handful of tortilla chips
150ml boiling hot beef stock
Mushroom ketchup
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (or other chilli sauce you like)
Preheat your oven to top whack, and get two frying pans over a high heat.
Add a splash of oil to both pans. Pop the mince in one of them and let sizzle and stir occasionally to colour all over. Meanwhile in the other pan crush in the garlic and 10 seconds later throw in the tomatoes, puree, and paprika. Keep stirring this too when you have a minute. Both pans should be bubbling fairly furiously.
When the mince is coloured all over it will probably have released some fat. Throw the onions into this along with the cumin, coriander, chilli powder and oregano. Add a pinch of salt and keep stirring.
Scatter the tortilla chips in one layer and pop in the oven for a couple of minutes to warm through and become really brittle.
Now add the beef stock to the mince and again keep stirring and shaking. By now the tomato paste should be quite thick and pulpy, so add this to the mince mixture.
Keep the heat high as you bring it all together and allow it to reduce naturally. Add a shake or two of both mushroom ketchup and hot sauce and check for seasoning. When you’re happy with it serve with the tortillas, grated cheese, soured cream, guacamole, etc. etc. whatever things you like to serve with chilli.
There’s no shortage of burger recipes on this blog, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for one more.
I was sent a bottle of Frank’s Red Hot sauce in the post. It’s not a condiment I usually use but after a little taste I found it really interesting – very hot of course, but with a very pleasant fruity taste. I thought it would work really well at cutting through the richness of lamb in these burgers, and if it all proved too much then the mint mayonnaise rushes in at the end to put out the fire. A great combo, and I’m definitely converted to hot sauce!
Combine the mince with the sauce and a good pinch of salt. Form the lamb into 4 patties but try not to compress them too much – you want to keep a nice loose texture.
Preheat a frying pan to pretty darn hot. Add a splash of oil and fry the burgers for 3-4 minutes each side.
While the burgers are cooking mix the mint and mayonnaise together. Lightly toast the rolls.
When the burgers are browned on both sides, slam into a bun, layer on a tomato slice, slather with minty mayo and gobble up.
Another year, another excuse to rustle up a garam masala. This year, a heavy lean on the aniseed flavours: star anise, cinnamon, chillis, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, bay leaves, a whole nutmeg all roasted in a low oven until aromatic. Blitz to dust.
