Category: tomato

Categories
beef chilli coriander cumin food onion oregano tomato

11 minute chilli

11 minute chilli con carne

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)

  1. Preheat your oven to top whack, and get two frying pans over a high heat.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Scatter the tortilla chips in one layer and pop in the oven for a couple of minutes to warm through and become really brittle.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
Categories
chorizo tomato

tomato and chorizo salad

When I watch cookery programmes, I try to keep a notepad nearby. If something pops up I love the look of, I can scribble it down immediately. Even if the recipe is published online afterwards I find there are little bits and pieces that are not always included in the full rundown. Extra seasoning, tips to look out for… like making notes when studying, I find it really useful to have my own version of events. They tend to come out as flow charts or odd diagrams as they make more visual sense to my brain.

So I was thumbing through an old notebook and found this recipe that I’d completely forgotten about. From Jamie Oliver’s Jamie Does… series, he cooked this summery salad in Andalucia. I had some home-grown tomatoes begging to be used, a lump of chorizo in the fridge (as there so often is) so it was a straightforward decision!

Given the absurdly inseasonal weather this weekend this fitted the bill perfectly. A little poke, sharp from vinegar with fresh tomato flavours, it goes great alongside any BBQ dish.

Tomato and chorizo salad (serves 2):

100g chorizo, cut into chunks

6 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Sherry vinegar

Handful of roughly chopped parsley

  1. Heat a little oil in a pan and throw in the sausage. Fry for a few minutes until browned on all sides.
  2. While the chorizo cooks, chop up the tomato and parsley and pop into a serving dish. Sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
  3. Once the chorizo is cooked, add a good shake of sherry vinegar and the garlic, and cook for 30 secs. Scoop out the chorizo with a slotted spoon and toss into the tomatoes (reserve the oil for frying something else really tasty, like a roast chicken or potatoes).
Categories
beef cumin oregano paprika tomato

beef chilli

Sometimes you see a recipe on TV and you have to do it immediately. And so it was with Jamie Cooks Summer, where Jamie Oliver cruises around a festival and cooks a bit. He made a chilli with a big slab of brisket as opposed to mince, rubbed it with spices and then braised it in tomatoes for hours. Watching the tender meat pull apart with a spoon is guaranteed mouth-watering.

I couldn’t find reasonably priced brisket (what’s happened to the price of brisket?!) so I used a large chunk of casserole steak instead, which still gave the same loose texture and great taste. I also added peppers and kidney beans to mine to round it out a bit. I left out the absurd amount of chillies that Jamie puts in every recipe, but still left plenty of tongue-tickling heat in there. It’s a great fun recipe though and a big hit for a party.

Beef chilli (serves 6):

800g casserole steak, scored

Paprika

Oregano

Cumin

Chilli powder

2 tins of tomatoes

2 large onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 red peppers, sliced

1 tin kidney beans, drained

  1. Get a large lidded casserole dish on a low hob, and a large frying pan on a high heat with a splash of oil.
  2. Rub a dusting each of oregano, paprika, cumin and chill into the meat with a sprinkle of salt. Make sure it’s well massaged in and sear the meat all over in the frying pan to get a lovely spicy crust on it.
  3. While this is searing, add the tomatoes to the casserole and half as much water again. Remove the meat to the side for a minute while you fry the onions and garlic until softened, then chuck the onions, garlic, meat and peppers into the pan. Stick the lid on, turn the heat down and simmer for 2 hours.
  4. Add the beans and cook out for another hour, or until the beef just falls apart. Serve with wraps, guacamole, salsa and rice.
Categories
basil bread capers cucumber red onion red wine vinegar tomato

panzanella

I’ve eyed up a panzanella for ages, spotting a particularly nice one in Tony & Giorgio. Yet I’ve not got round to it, until Simon Hopkinson chided me from the couch to give it a go. I have no idea why I’ve left it so long, it’s exactly the sort of food I love and the food I love the Italians for. It’s a Tuscan bread salad with onions, tomato and cucumber, mixed together with vinegar and oil left to marinate.

I’ve added my own tweak by roasting the bread first; I think you get more interesting flavours and the bread doesn’t completely break down. Sharp and fresh, yet rounded and satisfying at the same time. I can’t recommend it enough. Not bad for a peasant dish.

Simon Hopkinson’s original recipe can be found here.

Panzanella (serves 4):

5 slices stale sourdough bread

6 ripe tomatoes, peeled

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 cucumber, cut into chunks

1 tablespoon capers

Extra virgin olive oil

Red wine vinegar

Handful chopped basil

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Cut the bread into large croutons, drizzle with a little oil, toss over some seas salt and pepper and roast on a baking tray for 10 minutes until just starting to colour.
  3. Add the toasted bread to a large bowl with the remaining ingredients. Stir well and add more oil, vinegar, salt and pepper until you’re happy with it. You can eat straight away but it loves to sit around and let the flavours mingle, so eat it the next day if you like.
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