Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Smoky Chilli Beef with Bacon and Beans


I go through phases where I get addicted to using certain ingredients. A few weeks ago my addiction was citrus, in fact I'm still obsessed; a few days ago I made my first ever marmalade. It was delicious (fun and easy too) but I'll share it in a future post when I have a few more experiments under my belt.

But as for this week I thought I would share a recipe featuring my new latest obsessions: smoked paprika and Sriracha chilli sauce. These ingredients seem to find their way on to my lunch and dinner plates every day at the moment. From quiches to pizza, I can't help but sneak these ingredients in.

One place they were most suited to, not surprisingly, was in my chilli beef and beans recipe. It's a simple dish, yet still wonderfully hearty, and and has an awesome smoky flavour thanks to the paprika and bacon. It also has an adaptable hit of heat from the chilli powder and chilli sauce. Fantastic comfort food. It's great served with rice, tortillas, crusty bread, or my lazy day favourite: corn chips.

Anyone else have flavours or ingredients that they seem to be addicted to at the moment?

SMOKY CHILLI BEEF WITH BACON AND BEANS

Ingredients:

250g bacon, chopped (I prefer to use smoked manuka bacon)
2 onions, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, crushed (or use a couple of teaspoons of ground cumin)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
1 teaspoon chilli powder (this gives mild heat, add more if you prefer)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper
400g minced/ground beef
330ml beer
400g tin of kidney beans
400g tinned tomatoes (with juice), chopped
140g tomato paste (optional, but creates a much richer tomato flavour)
A few generous squirts of Sriracha sauce, or other chilli sauce of your choice

Method:

In a large pan, fry bacon until cooked. Then add the onions, and fry until soft. Add cumin, garlic, chilli powder, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper to the pan. Stir, then add the beef. Fry until the beef has cooked. Now stir in the beer, beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Simmer on a low heat for 1 - 2 hours, depending on how reduced you want it. Longer cook = thicker and richer flavour. Finally, squirt in some chilli sauce and give it a mix. Give the mixture a taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

2 comments:

  1. Just found your blog, Linno. Some great ideas here. Trying the smokey beef for dinner tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheers Mike, hope you enjoy the dish as much as I do.

    ReplyDelete

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