Cooking experience: Cooking for the family since i was in my late teens (Now late 30's) and roughly a year training as a chef.
So i can't really tell how i make the sauce on its own as i make at the same time as i am cooking the mince etc.
I wont put amounts as it depends on how much you are making.
So first thing is obviously ingredients.
Mince (Lamb or steak)
Stock cubes. You want the kind to match the kind of mince you are cooking with.
Tins of chopped tomatoes.
Tomato puree
Garlic cloves
Garlic Puree
Chilli Peppers (Pick your peppers you have grown. Pick the kind you want the heat to be)
Mild chilli powder. (Yes mild. This way you get to use your chilies to create the kind of heat you want instead of it coming from the powder.
Onions
Cooking Oil (Olive oil is best)
Red Wine - Merlot (This is not a requirement but it does make the sauce so much better!)
Salt & pepper (Sea salt)
Ketchup (Yes but you wont taste it, trust me it gives a nice lift to the sauce you wouldn't expect)
Kidney beans (Optional)
Also optional are regular bell peppers usually 1 red & 1 green
Optional if more heat required are Cayenne pepper powder or Tabasco sauce
So first let's prepare for cooking so that we have everything ready for when we need it.
I will make this under the presumption you are using the smallest pack of mice available which is usually 400-500g . The aim is to get consistency meaning for every spoon full of mince you want to have enough onions, kidney beans etc so that in every spoon full you eat you get some of the onions etc in each spoon full.
1. Dice 1 and a half onions
2. I like to use both Garlic cloves and puree. 3 decent sized cloves will do here though. An easy method for peeling and getting your cloves is to first lay your bulb of garlic on a hard surface and with your palm just whack it. Lay your palm on the bulb then with your other hand smash down on the top of your hand. This will release a few cloves. For peeling your cloves cut the hard part that you wont be using in your food just until you get to the shell on the other side this way you have something to hold on to and peel your clove. Just hold the hard part and pull it away from the clove and the rest of the skin will come with it. Other methods is smashing the clove using the blade of your knife (MAKE SURE THE EDGE OF THE BLADE IS FACING DOWN IF YOU DO THIS!! If YOU ARE UNSURE WATCH THE VIDEO UNDER THIS STEP FOR GUIDANCE) Place your knife blade on the garlic clove and then using your hand smash down on it and this can help with peeling your clove. Now make nice thin as you can slices of the cloves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaUtS24RjAo
3. IF using bell peppers you want to dice these also in to nice small pieces. Not big chunks. 1 red and 1 green will be more than enough.
4. The hot peppers is entirely up to you and completely depends on the heat you want. Want it hot hot hot, use a hot pepper. Want it mild use milder peppers. Quantity also depends on the heat you want. Just remember once you have added the hot peppers if the heat is too high there is no way taking it back without thinning the sauce out which also thins out all the rest of the ingredients making it a weak watery flavorless chilli overall. You can however add heat later on if you are still not satisfied with how hot it is by adding more hot peppers, Tabasco sauce and cayenne pepper powder. (If you are planning on leaving any of the end product in the fridge for the next day or freezing for another time remember that the heat will intensify!) You can chop, slice or dice but remember if the pepper its self is not hot but the seeds are then you want those seeds in the sauce for sure.
5. As for the Kidney beans this is entirety up to you on how many you want as i personally don't use them but if someone else has made chilli i don't mind them. Just open the can and give them a rinse under water in a sieve.
OK So we have our prep done and are ready to start cooking!!!
I like to use a pot that has a thick base to it, this way there is less chance of it burning at the bottom.
1. Pour a little olive oil with a tiny amount of water in the pot then allow the gradually heat.
2. Add your mince, sea salt and pepper and keep mixing it with a wooden spoon giving little breaks here and there to allow the mince to brown.
3. Once all the mince is brown you should have a good amount of juices from the meat. This is great because we are going to use this to start cooking some of the main ingredients that give us the flavor. So first of all throw in your onions and sliced garlic cloves (and bell peppers if you have them) Allow some time for the onions etc to cook along with the mince. 5mins should do.
4. Before we lose that lovely juices get your Chilli powder and add enough to cover all the mince. Get 1 of your (Lamb or Beef) stock cubes in there, no need to mix with water as we are using those juices instead! Also add your garlic puree, and a little tomato puree and mix all of this up. Allow it to cook until the juices are almost gone and all this flavor is not just going to be in your sauce but you have now infused it in to the mince! (If you want the mince to be extra spicy get some of your chilli peppers in there too!) (For extra extra spicy, Cayenne pepper adds a really nice kick but just a sprinkle at this stage should do)
5. Ok so the juices are almost gone so we don't want to burn it, so get a tin of chopped tomatoes in there. Maybe a 2nd tin or half? Just make sure there is enough again for consistency. Give it a good stir and allow to cook. Keep stirring making sure nothing on the bottom is sticking to the pan. Add the rest of your chilli peppers if you haven't done so in step 4. Also if using beans get them in there now if you don't want them too hard or if you prefer them harder you can wait a bit longer.
6. Take another stock cube and this time add to boiling water by putting the cube in a cup and just adding enough boiling water to dissolve the cube. Add this to the pot along with about half a mini bottle of red wine. Merlot i find is the best. Add a tiny squirt of ketchup. I know many of you are screaming at the screen but if you do this properly and don't add too much to the point that you can tell ketchup is in it this truly can make a brilliant lift to your chilli as you have been using a lot of heavy earthy savory ingredients and this gives it a small lift to the sweeter side. I often ask did you know there was ketchup in there and they all say no. That's how it should be. If they can tell, then you have added too much. Cook for about 10mins allowing everything to mix and reduce. Now is the time to start tasting your chilli. Not hot enough? Time to use those extras i spoke about such as Tabasco, Cayenne pepper or more hot chilies. Not enough garlic for your taste use the puree. Lacking savory flavor add another stock cube and a little wine with some sea salt.
7. This is just the time that is all about adjustments as mentioned at the end of step 6. Everything should be cooked by now so reduce your heat so nothing burns and add things as to your preference.
What you do next is up to you, you can cook some plain rice or get some Tortilla wraps to make Burritos. Another option is some tacos or nachos.
The main thing about my way of cooking is using those juices at the start because all the ingredients that you add at that stage are infused in to the meat its self and makes a huge difference. You can add stuff like the Tabasco and Cayenne pepper powder at that stage also if you want it to have a really hard kick of heat to it but those who like a more milder chilli will want to lay off of that. Also what i like doing here is using the mild chilli powder. This way you get to dictate using your own chilli peppers just how spicy it is rather than having something extremely hot that maybe the rest of the family can't handle thus not letting you use your own peppers because the powder has already added too much heat.
Experimentation is the best thing to do though. This is my base chilli. It doesn't mean there are not other things you can add to it.
I hope someone tries this and enjoys it.
The next time i am making chilli i will maybe take photos or even ask someone to record it.
So i can't really tell how i make the sauce on its own as i make at the same time as i am cooking the mince etc.
I wont put amounts as it depends on how much you are making.
So first thing is obviously ingredients.
Mince (Lamb or steak)
Stock cubes. You want the kind to match the kind of mince you are cooking with.
Tins of chopped tomatoes.
Tomato puree
Garlic cloves
Garlic Puree
Chilli Peppers (Pick your peppers you have grown. Pick the kind you want the heat to be)
Mild chilli powder. (Yes mild. This way you get to use your chilies to create the kind of heat you want instead of it coming from the powder.
Onions
Cooking Oil (Olive oil is best)
Red Wine - Merlot (This is not a requirement but it does make the sauce so much better!)
Salt & pepper (Sea salt)
Ketchup (Yes but you wont taste it, trust me it gives a nice lift to the sauce you wouldn't expect)
Kidney beans (Optional)
Also optional are regular bell peppers usually 1 red & 1 green
Optional if more heat required are Cayenne pepper powder or Tabasco sauce
So first let's prepare for cooking so that we have everything ready for when we need it.
I will make this under the presumption you are using the smallest pack of mice available which is usually 400-500g . The aim is to get consistency meaning for every spoon full of mince you want to have enough onions, kidney beans etc so that in every spoon full you eat you get some of the onions etc in each spoon full.
1. Dice 1 and a half onions
2. I like to use both Garlic cloves and puree. 3 decent sized cloves will do here though. An easy method for peeling and getting your cloves is to first lay your bulb of garlic on a hard surface and with your palm just whack it. Lay your palm on the bulb then with your other hand smash down on the top of your hand. This will release a few cloves. For peeling your cloves cut the hard part that you wont be using in your food just until you get to the shell on the other side this way you have something to hold on to and peel your clove. Just hold the hard part and pull it away from the clove and the rest of the skin will come with it. Other methods is smashing the clove using the blade of your knife (MAKE SURE THE EDGE OF THE BLADE IS FACING DOWN IF YOU DO THIS!! If YOU ARE UNSURE WATCH THE VIDEO UNDER THIS STEP FOR GUIDANCE) Place your knife blade on the garlic clove and then using your hand smash down on it and this can help with peeling your clove. Now make nice thin as you can slices of the cloves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaUtS24RjAo
3. IF using bell peppers you want to dice these also in to nice small pieces. Not big chunks. 1 red and 1 green will be more than enough.
4. The hot peppers is entirely up to you and completely depends on the heat you want. Want it hot hot hot, use a hot pepper. Want it mild use milder peppers. Quantity also depends on the heat you want. Just remember once you have added the hot peppers if the heat is too high there is no way taking it back without thinning the sauce out which also thins out all the rest of the ingredients making it a weak watery flavorless chilli overall. You can however add heat later on if you are still not satisfied with how hot it is by adding more hot peppers, Tabasco sauce and cayenne pepper powder. (If you are planning on leaving any of the end product in the fridge for the next day or freezing for another time remember that the heat will intensify!) You can chop, slice or dice but remember if the pepper its self is not hot but the seeds are then you want those seeds in the sauce for sure.
5. As for the Kidney beans this is entirety up to you on how many you want as i personally don't use them but if someone else has made chilli i don't mind them. Just open the can and give them a rinse under water in a sieve.
OK So we have our prep done and are ready to start cooking!!!
I like to use a pot that has a thick base to it, this way there is less chance of it burning at the bottom.
1. Pour a little olive oil with a tiny amount of water in the pot then allow the gradually heat.
2. Add your mince, sea salt and pepper and keep mixing it with a wooden spoon giving little breaks here and there to allow the mince to brown.
3. Once all the mince is brown you should have a good amount of juices from the meat. This is great because we are going to use this to start cooking some of the main ingredients that give us the flavor. So first of all throw in your onions and sliced garlic cloves (and bell peppers if you have them) Allow some time for the onions etc to cook along with the mince. 5mins should do.
4. Before we lose that lovely juices get your Chilli powder and add enough to cover all the mince. Get 1 of your (Lamb or Beef) stock cubes in there, no need to mix with water as we are using those juices instead! Also add your garlic puree, and a little tomato puree and mix all of this up. Allow it to cook until the juices are almost gone and all this flavor is not just going to be in your sauce but you have now infused it in to the mince! (If you want the mince to be extra spicy get some of your chilli peppers in there too!) (For extra extra spicy, Cayenne pepper adds a really nice kick but just a sprinkle at this stage should do)
5. Ok so the juices are almost gone so we don't want to burn it, so get a tin of chopped tomatoes in there. Maybe a 2nd tin or half? Just make sure there is enough again for consistency. Give it a good stir and allow to cook. Keep stirring making sure nothing on the bottom is sticking to the pan. Add the rest of your chilli peppers if you haven't done so in step 4. Also if using beans get them in there now if you don't want them too hard or if you prefer them harder you can wait a bit longer.
6. Take another stock cube and this time add to boiling water by putting the cube in a cup and just adding enough boiling water to dissolve the cube. Add this to the pot along with about half a mini bottle of red wine. Merlot i find is the best. Add a tiny squirt of ketchup. I know many of you are screaming at the screen but if you do this properly and don't add too much to the point that you can tell ketchup is in it this truly can make a brilliant lift to your chilli as you have been using a lot of heavy earthy savory ingredients and this gives it a small lift to the sweeter side. I often ask did you know there was ketchup in there and they all say no. That's how it should be. If they can tell, then you have added too much. Cook for about 10mins allowing everything to mix and reduce. Now is the time to start tasting your chilli. Not hot enough? Time to use those extras i spoke about such as Tabasco, Cayenne pepper or more hot chilies. Not enough garlic for your taste use the puree. Lacking savory flavor add another stock cube and a little wine with some sea salt.
7. This is just the time that is all about adjustments as mentioned at the end of step 6. Everything should be cooked by now so reduce your heat so nothing burns and add things as to your preference.
What you do next is up to you, you can cook some plain rice or get some Tortilla wraps to make Burritos. Another option is some tacos or nachos.
The main thing about my way of cooking is using those juices at the start because all the ingredients that you add at that stage are infused in to the meat its self and makes a huge difference. You can add stuff like the Tabasco and Cayenne pepper powder at that stage also if you want it to have a really hard kick of heat to it but those who like a more milder chilli will want to lay off of that. Also what i like doing here is using the mild chilli powder. This way you get to dictate using your own chilli peppers just how spicy it is rather than having something extremely hot that maybe the rest of the family can't handle thus not letting you use your own peppers because the powder has already added too much heat.
Experimentation is the best thing to do though. This is my base chilli. It doesn't mean there are not other things you can add to it.
I hope someone tries this and enjoys it.
The next time i am making chilli i will maybe take photos or even ask someone to record it.
