Chilli con Carne for One

Ooh, gimme some…

Yes, it’s nice to see a big pot of steaming chilli on the stovetop, but, if you live alone, most recipes are just too big to be convenient. Who wants to eat chilli twice a week for the next month? Really? OK, if you want. This is a generous portion for one and is quite delicious.

One of the problems with scaling down a recipe such as Chilli con Carne is that of physical volume. A small volume can easily dry out, and the amounts of spices have to be carefully controlled. If you are making a catering-sized batch, then half a teaspoon here or there makes absolutely no difference, but the same margin in a single serving will turn a dish from fantastic to uneatable. So we have to learn to be precise with our amounts. But I have to confess that I am usually a bit slapdash with my measurements. Sometimes I win, sometimes I regret it.
Hint: if you put in too much chilli, you can rescue it by simply cooking it out. Low and slow. Over a candle for a week, as I like to describe it.

For me, this is just the right degree of smack-in-the-mouth.

On the other hand, if you think it is too wimpish, be my guest…

Ingredients

75g beef mince (ground beef)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
1 level tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsps plain flour
A slug of red wine
1/2 beef stock cube
4 or 5 cherry tomatoes (or a generous tablespoon from a tin)
A squirt of tomato paste
Salt and pepper
Maggi liquid seasoning
A couple of tbsp red kidney beans (in this picture I had half a can of mixed beans in the freezer, so I used them)

To serve

50g basmati or other long-grain rice
Chopped coriander (cilantro)
Some garlic bread

Directions

Put the kettle on.

Heat a little oil in a pan and add the mince. Cook until browned.

Turn down the heat and sauté the onion for a few minutes. Add the garlic, all the spices and cook for a further minute or so.

Sprinkle the flour over the beef and stir it in. The mixture will look quite dry at this pont but that is OK. Cook the flour for a minute.

Deglaze the pan with a slug of red wine, stir it in until the flour has absorbed it, then crumble in the stock cube.

Add the tomatoes (life’s too short to concasse a cherry tomato), tomato pureé and cover it all with boiling water.

Put the lid on and cook over a low heat for 45m, stirring occasionally and checking that it’s not drying out.

The tomatoes should break down, but you might want to fish out any floating tomato skins (unless, of course, you disagree with me that life is too short to concasse a cherry tomato, and you did that earlier).

This is doing nicely…

Taste the chilli and decide if it good to go or needs a tweak. Black pepper is a must, but you may or may not need salt depending on your stock cube. Does it need a pinch of sugar? A small sprig of thyme, maybe?

The Maggi (I do wish it wasn’t called that, the name has other connotation here in the UK, saintly or devilish, depending on your political bent) goes in. You don’t need much, that’s why the hole in the top is so small, but it is powerful and delicious and will lift your dish a notch or two. Taste, taste, taste.

Add the kidney beans and heat through.

Serve with rice dressed with chopped coriander and some garlic bread. Yes, I know that is double carbs (triple if you count the beans), but it is simply compulsory.

Enjoy. Also compulsory.

PS Yes I really do use a chef’s ring just for myself. I have standards, you know. They may be low, but I have them.