"Worlds Best Chilli con Carne"

cor! thats double double chilli!!!

thanks meanie ~ i definitely want to make this one.

btw ~ 'your big mouth'??? does that mean you ate all this?

No - saying that I'd swap recipes. I had to type all that!!!

oh dear, sorry ~ you were very quick then. i had my recipe already stored in the computer ~ just had to copy and paste.
its worth it though ~ i really appreciate it.
THANK YOU!!!

OOh This is a must Meanie , I will be copying and cooking as soon as possible , it could be just right for our family Bonfire night next weekend ...Thanks ;o))

That's a great idea Amy! See meanie - it was worth all the trouble.

It's worth seeking out the kidney beans in chilli sauce.

Also, as for smoked paprika there are two of note; piquent pimenton is the "hotter" one and dulce pimenton is mild and a little sweet. The local delis stock them around here. Ordinary smoked paprika is fine though.

I have that good paprika - makes a difference!

Will be no problem to get the beans,

It's good stuff isn't it!

Cherry tomatoes halved, a red onion sliced, splash of red wine, olive oil, piquent or dulce pimenton, sprinkle of brown sugar and salt, chuck it all in a baking dish and stir, chuck in the oven for 25/30mins @ 200c - lovely hot or cold.

Making my mouth water! Prefer to eat it hot though!

Well done typing all that Meanie, not so mean eh but looks a mean recipe!

copied and pasted, thank you

one of mine and my eldest's favourite dishes this is, will definitely try this next week..

You're welcome Yorkshire!
It seriously is better if done the night before (as are curries too) Surreylad.
Any left overs are great on toast.
I forgot to add that I sometimes put chunks of (pre-cooked) beetroot in at the same time as the peppers.

Yes i like to rest mine over night to it brings out the flavours and spices better, Beetroot, now that's a nice twist to it..

Gr8 recipe for a dish to make ahead. Will try, and will be drooling for the 24hrs following, b4 devouring!

I like to load it up with veg - it eases my conscience!

I made it yesterday Meanie with some lovely organic beef I had to laugh when I reach the end of the recipe and it said ..Leave it and go to bed ... it was only 6.00 pm LOL... I left it until this morning beore freezing it ,it is sensational ,really good, thank you I'm sure it's going to be a favourite .. :o))

Im making it on thursday ~ thanks for the extra recommendation amy!!

Veg? Ah well, anything for an easy passage...I mean CONSCIENCE. Making 2morrrow. Thanks, again. :-)

Sounds like national chilli day tomorrow!

Glad that you enjoyed it Amy!

I sometimes substitute the mince for chicken.

got all the stuff ready to cook tonight then go to sleep and eat it tomorrow!!

cooked now, smells amazing!!

It's very good on toast for breakfast!!!!

but not at 5 am!!!

I'd call it essential at 5am!!

Well maybe I could try it - would certainly be a warm start to the day - prepare me for spending a few hours working next to the chillers!!

Had world's best chilli for tea last night ~ along with rice and garlic bread!
you are right ~ its the world's best ~ delicious!! the celery was really good ~ I wouldnt have thought to add that but its a fabulous addition.

Thanks Chilli Chef!

Thanks Sticki - as I said, I like to load it with veg to ease my conscience!

i have eaten too much now ~ im going to pop!!! OH was most impressed! ~ with the chilli ~ not me eating too much.

It's easily done!

too true ~ has to be good food though!

It was fabulous on Bonfire night , a big bowlful keeps your hands nice and warm and jolly good central heating to .. Looks as if it's going to be a favourite Meanie ;o)

same here!!!

If you can find scotch bonnet chillies they add a whole new dimension to it.

like taking the roof off your mouth!!!

there is a chilli farm in south devon ~ i bought some for a friend ~ who likes very hot stuff ~ he said it was the first time he had been assaulted by a christmas present!!!

I have some Chilli plants in the greenhouse Meanie , they are a dwarf chilli called 'Demon Red ' they are only approx 1-2 " long but must register 1,ooo,ooo on the heat scale , some of them are only now turning red very useful ;o)

Now they sound excellent, especially for pickling!

How do you pickle them Meanie ? you do know you are our latest cookery expert :o))

Drop into boiling water for 2 minutes, remove and pat dry. Push the point of a filleting knife through them about halfway up.
Drop into pickling vinegar that has a few garlic cloves in. You can add a few kaffir lime leaves too if you want.

Is that it ! brilliant thanks Meanie I have some Kaffir leaves I could do some with and some without to find out which we like best . once they are pickled can I use them in your Chilli con Carne or will the pickling vinegar spoil the taste ?

I don't cook with them, just eat them as they come out!

Oh my ! do you have some iced water at the ready ?

Never use water!
If you do take your mouth out, butter, milk or yoghurt. Never water, beer or anything like that!

Thanks for that tip Meanie I haven't heard that before !

Amy - capsaicin (the hot element of chillies) is in fact an oil. So it is not soluble in water. All the water does is spread it around more making it even more intense.
But the fat in butter etc do mix with capsaicin, effectively diluting it over the area of the tongue.

I never knew that - thanks Meanie!

Who needs Google when we have Meanie :o))

Good point Amy! How right you are!
Googlemeanie.com?

The one plus of insomnia ladies............

i had a feeling you might say that ~ sorry that you cant sleep so well, but thank you for letting us benefit!!

It's always been that way Sticki!

always? since you were a child?

Ever since I can remember. It's one of the reasons that I was allowed my first dog - so that I had something to do in the small hours.

and did no one ever work out a reason for it? would you prefer to work at night and sleep in the day? nocturnal? or is it that you dont need sleep?

I function perfectly well on four hours, and then every couple of weeks I crash!
As a young buck I could go the whole weekend without sleep - I used to be a bit of a party animal!

and now just the sleepless bit remains? no parties any more?
was it churchill that only had a few hours sleep?

Churchill did, and unfortunately so did Thatch.........

yes i knew that bit but i was trying to forget about her. personally i would rather be like churchill than that woman; mind you they would have made an interesting pair ~ i would love to hear what he had to say about her!! i loved his comments, wish i could think of such pithy comments.

I feel exactly the same way about her!

btw i found those triple chocolate mars bars ~ but does anyone want 47 of them??

Our local co-op has packets of four for a quid!
Why did you buy 48??

i didnt buy them. i found them on amazon and was amused to see you could only buy them in lots of 48!!!
dont worry i will find them.

just made this again ~ its lovely, this time i added a couple of spoonfuls of my sister's redcurrant jelly, she grew them on her allotment. worked well.

That's the way to do it!
I often chuck jam or jelly into stews.........

she made loads ~ i got a kilogram jar full!! very nice.

That's a lot of chillies, stews etc!

very true!!

will need more of the world's best recipes to use it up!!

Stew's about the only thing that I use it on.........

i made game pie the other day, would have been good with that ~ but i forgot!!

Perfect with game pie!
Nice glaze for venison steaks too maybe.........

tried cooking them once and they were tough, put me off a bit, but like eating it!!
it would go really well i think, also maybe with duck??

Deffo with duck - marinade in Cranberry jelly, rice wine vinegar, a couple of drops of sesame oil, garlic and five spice maybe.............

thats one of my christmas lunches sorted ~ thanks meanie ~ have to cook 3 times cos different people coming different days
is it any wonder i would rather escape to an island by myself???

Check it out first because I just made it up (hence no quantities). Sounds about right to me though. I did wonder about a little chopped ginger too, but could be overkill. If it need a little liquifying what about a little cranberry juice........
It should have read "Redcurrant Jelly" by the way!

either would work ~ i could always practise on a duck breast and then use a whole duck for when youngest son comes ~ he loves duck, although he likes it pinker than i would choose.

Not too keen on my duck like that, but any beef should be as rare as it can be.

i can eat beef either way but best is very well done on outside and meltingly pink/red on inside ~ flash fried or grilled i suppose.
i think duck can be a little tough if not cooked long enough.

That is how I feel about duck too. It's so fatty that it can take the extra cooking.

thats why the redcurrant or cranberry or orange works so well, cherry can be good too if not too sweet.
i like duck to be so well cooked it falls off the carcass in strands ~ delicious!!
and some good roast potatoes too.

Pork with Gooseberries!

oooh nice! wonder if rhubarb would also work?

i like fruit with meat but its not always popular with everyone, pork works with apricots too

Nooooooo! Not apricots!

I don't mind them, it works in a casserole type dish but gooseberries more appealing certainly with roast.

Don't get me wrong - I like apricots very much. But they just don't work for me in savoury dishes (a bit like banana).

well, i can eat bacon and banana but not really bothered about it ~ not a fruit i really like,
going to try jerusalem artichokes tonight ~ never had them before.

Bacon and banana - this is getting surreal!!!!

have you never tried that??

My sense of adventure falls a little short!

you have to try it one day.

btw karen susan has a recipe on for lamb and cranberry casserole.

I may just give that one a miss Sticki - banana and bacon would be like cheese with fruit in to me!

I do have a splendid recipe for lamb casserole with star annise in - I'll try to dig it out.

yes please!!!

i like cheese with fruit in too!!!

star anise must be very versatile, i have seen it decorated with glitter adorning a christmas cake today!!!

I can't find it online yet.............

this looks quite good

http://thekitchykitchen.blogspot.com/2010/03/morrocan-lamb-stew.html

Bookmarked!!!
I have a taggine - it really does work particularly well with lamb dishes.

i have one too, in fact i have two!!!

Brilliant aren't they!

the only thing is mine are made of clay/china? and it would have been better if i could have used it on the gas first before putting in the oven, otherwise i like them.

did you watch masterchef tonight ~ they dont give recipes but im sure one of them was making lamb with star anise!!

Mine is a fired ceramic one that is safe for gas/hob.

I didn't. Check the link out below - it should be one there eventually...............

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/b00mx9xb

I made the pickled Chilli's today Meanie I put in some nice fat Garlic bulbs also the Kaffir lime leaves , how long will it be before it's ready to eat please ?

recipe isnt there yet, will keep looking.

Amy - I was laying into them after a couple of weeks!

Let me know when it's up Sticki!

ok, will do my best to remember

found this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mutton_shoulder_tagine_38704

but i dont think it was the one i had seen.

I might be leaving the star anise out on that............
But I would be adding a handful of chopped dates!
Come to think of it, he's almost nicked my recipe!!!

probably knew a good one when he saw it!!

i dont think i know the taste well enough to know if it would work or not.
dates sound very nice, could do with a few good morocan recipes. i love them, not too hot though.

fresh dates and yoghurt are really good ~ breakfast, snack, anytime really.

Should have said swap the lemon for dates!
With chicken I'd leave pretty much as is (no mint though), although still not sure about star anise in a tagine........

has star anise got an aniseed taste?

i like those preserved lemons ~ very different.

Thanks Meanie , 2 weeks it is then ! Anthony Worrall Thompson has a recipe in the BBC food for Moroccan Lamb Tagine it dosn't have star anise in it.... it needs Saffron it will be lovely to use my own home grown :o))
Star Anise has an aniseed taste Sticki , I like it .....

It has - it's the distinctive flavour in chinese five spice.

The preserved lemons are good.

That is far closer to the tagine recipe that I use Amy.
I have been using sunflower oil - never heard of Arjan oil. Hazelnut oil seems to be the closest accepted substitute..........

I hadn't heard of Arjan oil Meanie , I bought some walnut oil in France this year ,I wonder if that would work ?

amazon are selling it!!!

Don't see why not Amy..............

Scare me Sticki - how much?

£8.47

HOWEVER.....
these are its properties

Protects against damage caused by the environment or heat styling
Mix with color/chemical processes for enhanced results and added depth to color
Creates brilliant shine and eliminates frizz

i dont think this is the one you want!!!

this is what you want

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Organic-Argan-Cooking-mildly-roasted/dp/B000PHZ206/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1322396586&sr=1-1-spell

£9.95

christmas list???

I think that I can work around it - tagine tends to have rather robust flavours.

i rather think i can manage without too, im not too sure i would notice the difference.