Recipe: Chilli Con Carne - Midweek Meals

We stayed home during the Easter break but escaped every day and ate out, one of our favourite places to stop before we head to Wales is Weobley in Herefordshire. The village is part of the Black and White Villages Heritage Trail, and a gem in the village is The Gables Tea Room, the food here is amazing and it has a unique warmth and cosiness from the moment you open the door, it was bitterly cold on the day we visited and everyone made a beeline to the welcoming log burner.

At some point I had to cook over the holiday and looking through a few of my Waitrose recipes found this quick chilli con carne recipe which is taken from their November 2012 magazine.  The secret ingredient is a piece of dark chocolate added at the end of the cooking time,  it really does make a difference and gives a great depth of flavour to the finished chilli.

Chilli is a great midweek meal and can be served simply with a jacket potato and a serving of rice, well that's how we like ours.

It isn't the most attractive of dishes but served in a fabulous casserole and dressed with either coriander or parsley makes a huge difference to the eye.

Adapted recipe.

Serves: 4

2 tablespoons olive oil, 500g Aberdeen Angus mincebeef, 1 chopped onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 red chilli finely chopped, 1½ tsp cumin, 1 tsp mild chilli powder, 1½ tsp dried oregano, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 400g can chopped tomatoes, 400g can organic red kidney beans (rinsed), 1 piece of dark chocolate, parsley leaves to decorate.

1. Heat a tbsp of oil in a large pan and cook half the mincebeef until brown, cook the remaining mincebeef.
2. Cook the onion, chilli and garlic in the pan with the remaining olive oil.  Cook gently until the onion has softened.
3. In a pan dry fry the cumin until the seeds release their flavour, tip into a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.  Add the ground cumin, chilli powder, dried oregano and tomato puree to the pan containing the onion and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Return the mincebeef to the pan, add the chopped tomatoes and 250ml of water.  Bring to the boil, simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
5. Stir in the rinsed beans and the chocolate, season.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Leeks, Dolcelatte and Walnuts: Recipe

All photographs taken with the Nikon D3200                           

'Life's too short to stuff a mushroom' - does anyone still use this expression? In 1975 Shirley Conran, published the book Superwoman, aimed at busy women and gave advice about life using the phrase 'Life is too short to stuff a mushroom'........This recipe is definitely well worth the time spent making something tasty and inexpensive from just a few fridge and store cupboard ingredients.

Served with a simple risotto.

I placed a small amount of risotto on the plate for the photograph because it very quickly goes stodgy and doesn't like to be left hanging around, otherwise you may well end up eating it for pudding. After taking photographs, which as usual were taken speedily during cooking and serving, I topped the risotto with the remaining walnuts, Dolcelatte and thyme leaves, to give texture and interest.  I made a tried and trusted risotto recipe, used half the recommended quantities of ingredients and simply left out the bacon, leeks, Parmesan and chives.

The original recipe for the Stuffed Mushrooms with Leeks, Dolcelatte and Walnuts is from the Waitrose Kitchen Magazine - February 2013.

Adapted Recipe

Serves: 2

5 large flat mushrooms (chop one and leave the others whole)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic oil
1 leek finely chopped
a few thyme leaves
25g Dolcelatte Cheese
25g walnuts chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Mix the olive oil and garlic oil together and brush one tablespoon over the whole mushrooms. season with black pepper.  Place on a roasting tin top-side down and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the leek, thyme and chopped mushrooms for approximately 5 minutes until softened.
3. Divide the mixture between the four upturned baked mushrooms, top with cubes of  Dolcelatte cheese and chopped walnuts, season.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Mincemeat Bites with Five Seed Topping - Recipe

The crunchy toasted seeds are very, very, delicious

There are so many fabulous Christmas recipes in cookery books and magazines I find it difficult to throw any of them away.  Unfortunately there isn't enough time to either cook or eat the majority of them. This year I thought why not start cooking and eating my Christmas bakes early.  I am already thinking my waistline may regret this decision but as I don't have any weight issues, as yet,  hopefully I will get away with it.......I'll let you know after Christmas if I have any makes and bakes regret.

Quick and easy Christmas recipes that work are a priority, and this little number from a Waitrose recipe card is a winner - think sausage rolls but with a sweet mincemeat filling. Ready rolled puff pastry, add a handful of dried cranberries or dried sour cherries to either a home made mincemeat or a quality bought one and a few seeds scattered over for crunch - I used pumpkin, sunflower, poppy seeds, sesame and linseeds.

Adapted Recipe

You will need:  Greased baking tray

375g pack ready rolled puff pastry, 300g good quality mincemeat, handful dried cranberries, lightly beaten egg, 50g mixed seeds, 2 tbsp sifted icing sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
2. Cut the pastry in half lengthways. Put half the mincemeat down the centre of the pastry strips and scatter over a few dried cranberries.
3. Brush the beaten egg along the edges of the pastry.  Roll over to make two long rolls. Seal the edges together.
4. Place the rolls onto the baking tray cut side down, brush with egg, sprinkle over the seeds.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked. Cool, cut into mincemeat bites, dust with icing sugar.

Braised Red Cabbage With Apple - Recipe

This Braised Red Cabbage with Apple recipe from Waitrose is one of many red cabbage recipes I use, but I always make this one for Christmas Day, it is so delicious and tasty.

The perfect sweet/sour taste, not too spicy and sweetened with light muscovado sugar and redcurrant jelly - can be made in advance and frozen too.

To freeze: Line a baking tray or similar with clingwrap, place the cooked braised cabbage onto the lined tray, spread over the base, cover with clingwrap, place in the freezer.  When frozen remove and cut into portions.  Wrap each portion in clingwrap, place into a ziplock bag and return to the freezer. To reheat: defrost and reheat in the microwave.

The recipe can also be found in the Waitrose Christmas Harvest 2012 recipe guide.

Diamond Jubilee Strawberry Crumble Crunch

The recipe for the  Heston Blumenthal Diamond Jubilee Strawberry Crumble Crunch can be found on the Waitrose website or you can watch the recipe video.

My recommendation is to make this in individual pots, because it looked a bit messy on the plate when I served it up.

Enjoy the holiday - back soon!