Tag Archives: chillies

February 5, 2013

Recipe Shed: Classics with a Twist: Chilli Con Carne

There are three twists to this class chilli con carne recipe. The first is to use chunks of braising steak instead of mince. The second is the addition of spiced butter (courtesy 0f Heston Blumenthal) at the end of cooking. The third is something that felt like it made sense at the time – and felt like it made even more sense once the dish was finished: the addition of Chinese black bean sauce to the stew.

Why black bean sauce? Well, I had hoped to use fermented black beans instead of kidney beans in the recipe, but couldn’t find any. Instead, I used kidney beans and the Chinese sauce from a jar. It gave the resulting dish a sweet and piquant finish.

For the chilli

1-2 tbsp oilive oil
500g braising steak, trimmed of fat
1 tbsp plain flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
250 ml beef stock
250 red wine
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 can kidney beans
1 jar Chinese black bean sauce
1 star anise

For the spiced butter

1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp tomato ketchup
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Marmite
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. To make the butter, heat the oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the cumin and chilli powder for a couple of seconds, to take away the rawness. Pour into a bowl and add the smoked paprika, tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Marmite and butter. Mix together thoroughly. Put in a small boll or roll into a log. Keep in the fridge until required for up to a week, or freeze for up to a month.

2. For the chilli, heat a little oil in a frying pan. Dust the beef chunks in seasoned flour and fry until browned all over. Transfer to a plate and wipe the pan clean.

3. Add another drop of oil and gently cook the onions, garlic and green chilli. Return the beef chunks to the pan, then add the tomatoes, tomato puree, kidney beans, beef stock, red wine, star anise and black bean sauce. Stir to combine.

4. Transfer to a slow cooker, set on LOW. Cook for 5-6 hours, until the beef is very tender.

5. An hour before the end of the cooking time, add the spiced butter and stir through.

6. Serve with freshly baked corn muffins and sliced roasted red peppers, soured cream and grated Cheddar cheese.

1 Comment

Filed under Beef, Recipe Shed

Tagged as beef, black bean sauce, braising steak, chilli, Chilli Con Carne, chillies, Heston Blumenthal, Recipe Shed, Recipes, spiced butter

October 7, 2012

Recipe Shed: Ox Cheek Rendang

Ox cheek is more of a continental cut – traditionally used by the French, for braising. It has a very strong flavour and needs long, slow cooking. As it is National Curry Week this week I thought it would work just as well in this classic Indonesian curry dish. It worked magnificently – the cheeks were soft and flaky and the spice sauce deep, rich and complex.

Serves 2-4

For the spice paste

1 large red chilli
1 long green chilli
6-8 garlic cloves
Golf ball-sized piece of ginger, peeled
2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer stalks removed, sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt

For the ox cheeks

2 tsp oil 2 ox cheeks, trimmed of sinew and cut into chunks
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 can coconut milk
Zest of 1 lime
Coriander leaves to garnish

1. Put all the ingredients for the spice paste with a little water and whiz to a paste.

2. Add the oil to a large frying pan and brown the ox cheek chunks all over, for approx. 5 mins.

3. Add the onions and stir to combine. Add the lime zest.

4. Add the spice paste.

5. Then the coconut milk. Stir to combine. Transfer to a slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours until the beef is very tender. If you don’t have a slow cooker, transfer to a casserole dish with a lid and cook in the oven, preheated to 160C/Gas 3 for 2-3 hours.

6. When cooked, transfer to a bowl and put in the fridge for up to three days – the flavours will improve.

7. When ready, reheat the the rending in the oven or on the hob, if you want to reduce the sauce. It should be very thick and meaty. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with sticky rice.

3 Comments

Filed under Beef, Recipe Shed, Slow Cooker

Tagged as beef, beef rendang, chillies, Lemongrass, lime, Malaysian, ox cheeks, Recipe Shed, Recipes

September 10, 2012

Recipe Shed: Hot & Spicy Chicken Nuggets with American Mustard Potato Salad

Few things are as finger lickin’ good as proper, homemade chicken nuggets. This recipe is a very adult version because it’s so hot, hot, hot, but the kids will love them too – just leave out the whole chillies and cayenne pepper.

Makes 10-12 chunky nuggets

4 skinless chicken thighs, chopped into meaty chunks
2 tbsp plain flour
2 eggs, beaten to a create a wash
6-8 tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs (I used some stale crusts, whizzed in a food processor)
3 dried chillies, bashed to a powder in a pestle and mortar
1 tsp white peppercorns, bashed to a powder in a pestle and mortar
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves, crumbled between you fingers and thumb into a powder
1 litre sunflower oil
25g butter

1. Thoroughly mix the breadcrumbs, the spices and the fenugreek together.

2. Dust the chicken chunks all over with the flour. Dip into the egg wash, then dip into the breadcrumbs mixture. Shake off any excess.

3. Heat the oil in a large deep-sided frying pan or wok, then add the butter. When the butter foams, gently and carefully add the chicken chunks into the oil. Do this in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan (which lowers the temperature of the oil and will make the coating soft and greasy). Turn every 3-4 mins to ensure the breadcrumb coating doesn’t burn. After about 10 mins, remove one of the thickens nuggets from the oil and slice with a knife to check it is done. There should be no pink – just pure white meat.

4. Drain on kitchen paper.

5. Serve with baby gem lettuce leaves and potato salad made by boiling chunks of new potatoes in salted water until tender, then dressing with mayonnaise, American mustard, finely sliced spring onions and finely diced red pepper.

1 Comment

Filed under Poultry, Recipe Shed

Tagged as American mustard, cayenne, Chicken, chicken nuggets, chillies, hot-and-spicy, Potato Salad, Recipe Shed, Recipes

September 9, 2012

Recipe Shed: Coconut Beef Curry with Green Chillies and Spinach Bhajee

This is a delicious creamy coconutty curry imparted with fantastic beefy flavour. I another hunk of meat that I recovered from the bottom of my freezer drawer. You could use more expensive fillet or sirloin beef, but by bashing the topside with a meat hammer to tenderise it, the results are pretty much the same.

400g topside beef or 2 steaks
2 green chillies, seeds removed and sliced into rounds
50g creamed coconut, crumbled

For the curry base

4 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

For the marinade

200g Greek natural yogurt
1 tsp Chinese spice powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala

1. Make the curry base by heating the oil in a large frying pan, then gently cooking the onions, garlic and ginger for 12-15 mins until very soft. Add some water if it gets too dry to prevent it burning. Transfer everything to a food processor and whiz into a puree.

2. To make the marinate, mix the yoghurt with all the spices (except the garam masala) and salt in a shallow dish.

3. With the knobbly side of a meat mallet (or use a rolling pin), bash the beef until about 0.5cm thick to tenderise it. Chop into slices and add to the marinate, then mix until the beef is thoroughly coated. Put in the fridge for an hour.

4. Add another tablespoon of oil to a frying pan and gently heat the onion puree. Add the green chillies and cook for 2-3 mins, until the chillies soften.

5. Add the beef and the marinate and gently cook for approx. 10 mins until the beef is cooked through. Add the creamed coconut and a little water, then stir through to thicken the sauce. Sprinkle in the garam masala and stir through.

6. Serve with spinach bhajee, made by gently cooking 1 sliced garlic clove in a little oil, then add 2-3 big handfuls of washed spinach. Cook down to release the water from the spinach for around 5 mins. Sprinkle over 1 tsp garam masala and stir fry for 30 seconds.