Description
Mary Berry’s chilli con carne brings robust Mexican-inspired flavors to comforting dinner tables. Home cooks can easily craft this hearty one-pot meal with simple ingredients and minimal preparation time.
Ingredients
Scale
- 500 g (1.1 lbs) lean minced beef
- 410 g (14.5 oz) red kidney beans, canned
- 400 g (14 oz) chopped tomatoes, canned
- 1 large onion
- 1 red pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 beef stock cube
- 2 tbsps tomato purée
- 1 heaped tsp hot chili powder (or 1 level tbsp if only mild)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried marjoram
- 1 tsp sugar
- long-grain rice, plain boiled, to serve
- soured cream, to serve
Instructions
- Preparation: Organize all ingredients and tools, ensuring a pristine cooking workspace for efficient preparation.
- Aromatic Foundation: Sauté finely chopped onions in heated olive oil over medium-high heat until translucent, then introduce minced garlic and diced red bell pepper, stirring to release their vibrant essences.
- Spice Awakening: Sprinkle ground spices into the pan, allowing them to bloom and intensify their aromatic profiles for a brief moment.
- Meat Transformation: Add ground beef, breaking it into delicate crumbles and cooking until achieving a rich, uniform brown color that promises deep flavor development.
- Liquid Harmony: Combine beef stock, diced tomatoes, marjoram, sugar (or dark chocolate), and tomato purée, stirring to create a robust and complex sauce base.
- Gentle Simmer: Reduce heat, cover, and let the mixture gently simmer for 20-25 minutes, occasionally stirring to prevent any potential scorching and allow flavors to meld seamlessly.
- Bean Integration: Fold in kidney beans, ensuring even distribution, and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes to marry all ingredients completely.
- Flavor Refinement: Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, tasting and fine-tuning to personal preference.
- Culinary Presentation: Allow the chili to rest briefly, then serve steaming hot over rice, crowned with a dollop of sour cream and optional fresh herb garnish for a final touch of elegance.
Notes
- Precision Chopping: Cut onions, peppers, and garlic uniformly to ensure consistent cooking and balanced flavor distribution in every bite.
- Spice Blooming Technique: Toast spices for 30-45 seconds before adding other ingredients to intensify their aromatic oils and deepen the overall taste profile.
- Meat Browning Mastery: Break ground beef into small crumbles while cooking to achieve perfect caramelization and prevent large, tough meat chunks.
- Resting Magic: Allow the chili to rest 5-7 minutes after cooking to let flavors meld and sauce naturally thicken, creating a more cohesive and rich taste experience.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: UK
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 8 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg