Chilli con Carne

I've been meaning to cook chilli con carne for a while now, but I kept postponing it for spicy food may not be the best idea when pregnant. Besides, the baby doesn't seem to like beans for whenever I eat them I feel terribly sick.

So I was really glad when I found this recipe, from Jamie Oliver which takes chickpeas or cubed potatoes instead of beans. I just cooked it for dinner

Jamie: "What a classic dish this is. Most of my mates love the chickpeas, but butter beans or even cubed potatoes will work well in their place. Feel free to pep up this dish with more chilli depending on your taste. This will make enough for six portions, so simply freeze the extra if you're only cooking for four - it's so damn good the next day, even on a jacket potato!"

Taken from Jamie's Ministry of Food

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

2 medium carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 red peppers

Olive oil

1 heaped teaspoon chilli powder

1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas

1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

500g good-quality minced beef

1 small bunch of fresh coriander

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

400g basmati rice

1 x 500g tub of natural yoghurt

1 x 230g tub of guacamole

1 lime

 
1. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery - don’t worry about the technique, just chop away until fine.

2. Halve the red peppers, remove the stalks and seeds and roughly chop.
3. Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat.
4. Add 2 lugs of olive oil and all your chopped vegetables.
5. Add the chilli powder, cumin and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.
7. Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes
8. Add the minced beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon.
9. Fill one of the empty tomato tins with water and pour this into the pan.
10. Pick the coriander leaves and place them in the fridge.
11. Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in.
12. Add the balsamic vinegar and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
13. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it catching.

To serve chilli con carne

1. This is fantastic served with fluffy rice.
2. Just divide the rice and chilli into big bowls or serve in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves.
3. If you don't fancy rice it's equally good with a nice hunk of fresh crusty bread, over a jacket potato or with couscous.
4. Put a small bowl of natural yoghurt, some guacamole and a few wedges of lime on the table, and sprinkle the chilli with the coriander leaves.
5. I love to add a nice green salad to round it off

Hot Chilli Sauce for Gumbo

Goes with the Chicken Gumbo

15 habanero (scotch bonnet) chillies, roughly chopped
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and mashed
240ml English mustard
50g brown sugar
60ml white wine vinegar
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chilli powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together then purée in a blender before funnelling into a bottle. Place in the fridge and allow to stand in the fridge for at least two weeks before using. Store in the fridge (but it will keep for ages).

Creole Seasoning

This is what brings the Gumbo to life!

2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp celery seed
5 tbsp sweet paprika

Add all the ingredients to a food processor or coffee grinder and pulse until well-combined. Place in a jar and store in your spice cupboard (this will keep for several months).

Chicken Gumbo Recipe

That's a lot of Gumbo. If you cut the ingredients in half you still get a decent "serves 4" recipe.

2 whole, boned, chicken breasts

6 strips bacon, cut into 2.5cm pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1l chicken stock
6 plum tomatoes chopped
100g sweetcorn (best if from the cob)
300g okra, cut into 1cm pieces
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
70g uncooked rice
1.2l water

Hot Chilli Sauce to season
black pepper to season
Creole Seasoning, to season
parsley to garnish

Fry the bacon in a large pan then remove and set aside. Dredge the chicken in the flour and brown on all sides in the pan. Pour the chicken broth over the browned chicken in the pan and bring to a boil. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the seasonings - last 4 itens on the list above) and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and season before serving (add the bacon back at the end of cooking if you wish).

Pic: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB50dpiBNDBg2rCt5qF7U3vdl3zNk3gNCPNGA9smJPa2ASh541H1n3ysXr5qi3P8JMb0is2Q_ItPzqmXSCh_m06U_d1XXHGtcyEvKKwSrKNtahoFfySFhABZdcibYMESjec6L6Q6ZTqbfV/s400/Chicken+Gumbo.jpg

Coleslaw

According to Wikipedia, "The term "cole slaw" arose in the 18th century as a partial translation from the Dutch term "koolsla", a shortening of "koolsalade", which means "cabbage salad".[2]


An old wives-tale for the origins of coleslaw, came from London in the late eighteen hundreds, where stories were told of it being "Coles Law" to combine cabbage, carrot and mayonnaise. This was told in hope that children would eat coleslaw and obey the laws he had put in place. Cole, was a brutal man with a big chest and children were afraid of him"

I found this recipe here and there´s even a video explaining how to do it.

•300 g of white cabbage, thinly sliced

•2 carrots, peeled and grated
•2 spring onions or scallions, thinly sliced
•2 tbsp of mayonnaise
•2 tbsp of sour cream
•1 tsp of mustard
•2 tbsp of vinegar
•1 tsp of sugar
•salt and pepper
•1 large bowl
•1 small bowl
•1 metal spoon
•cling film

20 minutes

Step 2: Make the dressing
The secret to a fantastic coleslaw is in the dressing. To make the dressing put the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper into a small bowl and combine with the large spoon until the mix forms a rich, creamy dressing.

Step 3: Add the dressing to the vegetables
Put the cabbage into the bigger bowl, then the carrots and finally the spring onions or scallions. Mix all the vegetables up and then pour the dressing on top. Mix together again until all the vegetables are smothered in dressing.

Step 4: Cover and chill
Next, cover your coleslaw with cling film or saran wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour to chill slightly. This will allow the vegetables to marinate in the dressing, which will make it taste even better.

Pic from http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/285977983_17431c3381.jpg

Marrow Ratatouille au Gratin

Found this one here and it´s very very good.


1 Marrow (peeled & deseeded)
4 Tomatoes (peeled & chopped) OR 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 Onion (chopped finely)
2 Garlic cloves (chopped finely)
Generous Handful of Assorted Herbs (parsley, thyme, basil etc)
Grated Cheese

Method

Heat the onion & garlic in some olive oil over a medium heart until they begin to brown. Cube the marrow & add to the pan. Cover & leave to sweat for around five minutes. Add your tomatoes & herbs, cook for around thirty minutes, top with cheese, melt under the grill & serve.

Créme Caramel (Pudim de leite condensado)

This is the easiest possible thing to cook, if you are just starting. It is also good to know in case you have people coming and are short on time.

1 can of condensed milk
same amount of milk (1 can's worth)
3 eggs

Syrup (Caramel)

1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar

Mix the sugar with the water in a hob. Heat in medium heat, without stirring, until it becomes a dark colour (about the colour of whisky or rum).

Put it in your oven proof tray and wooble it around, until you get the caramel all over. Let it cool down. This is the trick. If you mix the cream with hot caramel, it will cook the first and ruin it.
Cream

Mix it all in the blender and put it in the tray. Bake it in medium heat (180C) in bain marie (put the tray inside a bigger tray, with water) for about 30-40 min. The top will change colour and look dark. Check it it's done by sticking a toothpick in the middle of the cream: it's done when it comes off clean. Let it cool down, take it off the tray and keep it in the fridge until serving time.

Stuffed peper

I'm not much of a fan of pepper, but my hubby loved it!

200g of mince
1 cup of rice
2 cups of meat stock
1 cup of chopped parsley
3 tbspoons of olive oil
4 red peppers
1/2 onion, chopped
salt

Wash the peppers. Cut the lid off (put it aside), remove the seeds and wash them again. Dry the peppers in a paper towel. Put aside. On a hon, heat up 2 tbspoon of olive oil and the fry the onion. Add the rice, mince and fry the meat. Add the parsley and the meat stock. Lower the heat, put on a lid and let the rice cook. Pre-heat the oven (medium heat) Put the rice with mince inside the pepper, cover with the lids and secure it with toothpicks. Spread the rest of the olive oil. Put them in an oven proof tray and bake for 25 min.

Alternatively you can put them inside some tomato sauce, cover the tray with a lid and let them bake for 20 min.