Chilli Con Carne

Throughout my childhood, one of my mother’s signature dishes was a beef stew. I remember always looking forward to my favorite bread dipping into a thick,dark and aromatic sauce. The meat was always soft and juicy, unlike any other dishes. I liked it a lot.

After leaving my home to go to university, for years I was looking for similar flavor but without much success. Then just after graduation I went to England in search of adventure, looking to find my place in the world. After few months I returned back to Belgrade. Working at a pizza place for below minimum wage was fun to a point. I was set for higher ambitions, working in the engineering field, but from what I could tell, the probability of that happening seemed remote and not promising. All my compatriots of different nationalities that worked with me in the restaurant were university educated and nobody was able to get a job in their field. Anecdotally I could not even land a job in a bike repair shop because I had no “prior work experience”. That was in despite I explained that I was a licensed mechanic, mechanical engineer and offered to work for free during probation period. On top of it how to explain that I grew up in a society that did not have bike repair shops? We repaired our bikes by ourselves, that was considered as basic as being able to walk.

However, on the bright side, one of discoveries on my trip was Chilli Con Carne. I have never before heard of it nor tasted anything similar. It had that feel of my mother’s beef stew.

Fast forward to the age of the Internet and easy access to anything. That is what led me to some great recipes including this one, a professional Chilli Con Carne recipe. It again reignited memory of my mother’s signature stew. The recipe definitely did not disappoint, the taste is very satisfying rich, spicy and flavorful. It goes great with sour cream and shredded cheese as a garnish, and yes it is great for bread dipping as well.

Chilli Con Carne is a beef stew of a Mexican and southern Texas origin. It is a simple dish to make but still requires patience and attention to detail or it will turn out mediocre at best. If I had to sum up key components to make this dish successful, they would be as follows: right meat cut, caramelizing vegetables ( to have them deeply caramelized, border line burned but yet to avoid burning ), chili seasoning and slow, long simmer.

The recipe has been adapted from chef Greg Easter and his “CookinginRussia” channel.

Print Recipe

Chilli Con Carne

A traditional spicy beef stew.

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

American, Mexican, North American

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

4.5 hours

Passive Time

1 hour

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

• 30 g bacon diced
• 450 g beef shank meat cubed to 1 cm (1/2" cubes)
• 150 g onion chopped
• 45 g bell pepper chopped
• 6 garlic cloves coarsely chopped
• 150 g Italian tomato purée (passata)
• 90 ml red wine dry
• 3/4 tsp black pepper medium grind
• 250 ml beef stock
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 30 ml balsamic vinegar
• 180 g kidney beans canned
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• sea salt to taste, as required

Chilli Seasoning

• 2 dried sweet red chilies
• 1-3 Dried Red Serrano Chili
• 2 dried mulato chilies
• 1 tsp sea salt coarse
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano dried
• 1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp paprika best quality
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika pimentón
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Fennel seeds
• 4 cloves (spice) whole
• 1/4-1/2 Bay leaf

Course Main Dish Cuisine American, Mexican, North American Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 4.5 hours Passive Time 1 hour Servings servings Ingredients Main Ingredients 30 g bacon diced 450 g beef shank meat cubed to 1 cm (1/2" cubes) 150 g onion chopped 45 g bell pepper chopped 6 garlic cloves coarsely chopped 150 g Italian tomato purée (passata) 90 ml red wine dry 3/4 tsp black pepper medium grind 250 ml beef stock 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 30 ml balsamic vinegar 180 g kidney beans canned 1 tbsp red wine vinegar sea salt to taste, as required Chilli Seasoning 2 dried sweet red chilies 1-3 Dried Red Serrano Chili 2 dried mulato chilies 1 tsp sea salt coarse 1 1/2 tsp oregano dried 1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds 1 tsp paprika best quality 1/2 tsp smoked paprika pimentón 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp Fennel seeds 4 cloves (spice) whole 1/4-1/2 Bay leaf

Instructions

Chili Seasoning

1. Remove pepper stems, tear peppers in smaller pieces and process together in a spice grinder: sweet red chilies, red serano chilies, mulato chilies and coarse sea salt.

   
2. Do not empty the spice grinder. Add the rest of the spices: paprika, smoked paprika, ground cinnamon, fennel seeds, cloves, bay leaf and grind together. Chili seasoning will be added 3 times throughout the cooking process.

Cooking Procedure

1. In a medium size mixing bowl sprinkle cubed meat with 1 tbsp of chili seasoning, mix it in evenly using your hands. Cover the bowl with plastic film and leave for 1 hour at room temperature.

   
2. Add diced bacon to a cold, medium size pan and cook over the medium heat (4 out of 10). After few minutes as bacon fat is rendered increase the heat to medium high (7 out of 10). Add in and brown half of the meat. The goal is just to take off the raw surface of meat. After about 3 minutes of cooking, as meat looses its pink color remove it with slotted spoon.

   
3. Put other half of the meat in, keep stirring. As heavy fond starts to accumulate at the bottom of the pan add half of the wine or 45 ml and deglaze the pan. Scrape as much of fond as you can from the bottom before transferring meat to the plate.
4. Add chopped peppers and onions to the pan, stir and try to scrape more fond from the bottom. Add a little salt that will draw moisture out of vegetables, make them sweat which will make it easier to scrape the fond. Make sure vegetables do not burn but you want a real good caremelization on them. Keep stirring and cook for approximately 8 minutes.

   
5. Add coarsely chopped garlic, reduce heat to medium high (4 out of 10) and cook for 2-3 more minutes, keep stirring constantly and trying to scrape bottom as best as you can.
6. Stir in pureed tomatoes. Added moisture will allow you to completely scrape fond from pot bottom. This is very important since any fond left will burn.
7. Add a table spoon of chili seasoning and stir until fully incorporated. Cook for about 3 minutes.
8. Increase the heat to medium high (5 out of 10), add browned meat, ground pepper and stir all together. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
9. Add the rest of the wine or 45 ml and stir around. The alcohol of wine will evaporate in about a minute. At that point add a beef stock, stir, reduce heat to just under medium low (3 out of 10). Put the lid on and simmer for 1.5 hours.
10. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and cook for 30 minutes without lid.

    
11. Add balsamic vinegar, stir, put the lid on and simmer for 1 hour.
12. Reduce heat to low (2 out of 10), add 1 tbsp of chili seasoning, stir, put the lid on and simmer for 40 minutes.
13. Stir in drained and rinsed kidney beans, cook for 10-15 minutes without lid.
14. Add red wine vinegar and stir around. Taste and adjust salt level.

Recipe Notes

• The best meat cut is a beef shank. It does not have much fat and it dose have lots of connective tissue. This is tough meat cut but it will soften up with long cooking time. Remove outside band of connective tissue and the bone, cut the rest of the meat in approximately 1 cm (1/2") cubes .
• The meat is browned in two batches to avoid overcrowding. Vegetable caremelization is a key to depth of flavor. The trick is in finding a fine balance between deep vegetable caramelization and burning them. This is what will give a maximum flavour to this simple dish.
• If you do not scrape all the fond before long cooking time it will turn into a carbon. I recommend you use a flat edged wooden spoon that will make it easier for scraping.

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