Bonfire Chilli for a chilly bonfire night!

It gets dark early up here in Edinburgh.  By 4:30 last night the sky was almost completely dark and the first fireworks could be heard (but not seen...weep) and although I wasn't going out to a bonfire party I thought I'd prepare a warming chilli full of heat and a little BANG! 

I had been looking at Nigella's Cheesy Chilli recipe from Kitchen, she uses some ingredients like chorizo and cocoa that I wasn't prepared to go out and buy especially for this recipe...so I compared it to the quick chilli recipe in my stand-by Canadian Basics cookbook and another in Jamie's Ministry of Food and thought...hey! I can do this... 

It wasn't like that gloopy...possibly from a tin...chilli you get at pubs on baked potatoes, it was chunky and tasted fresh (if I do say so myself).  I basically softened a finely chopped onion and finely chopped green pepper in a little bit of oil and then added a couple of really fat cloves of minced garlic and the spices....smoked paprika (to replace Nigella's chorizo), cayenne pepper, ground coriander and cumin, and a little dribble of oil to keep the spices from burning.  Once that was all mixed up I chucked in the mince, browned it all and then a tin of tomatoes, about 125ml of water and a tin of kidney beans (drained). After 15mins of boiling with the lid on I added a grated carrot and a really fat green chilli sliced into rounds.  That all simmered with the lid off for about 30 mins, until it was thick and everything was soft...and then...salt and pepper and chopped coriander (which I found lurking in the back of the fridge...still fresh!).  

I have to say I just eyeballed the measurements.  The recipes I looked at all called for one tin of tomatoes and about 125ml of water or stock to 500g meat.  I used about 2 tsp of paprika and a good sprinkle of cayenne.  I doubted the amount of heat...but thought...well I can always add Tabasco later...I didn't need it though!! 

Served with tortillas, plain yoghurt and grated cheese this warmed me right up! The only thing missing...the guac :( I had a huge serving and still managed a little bit left for lunch today and 3/4 of a large ice cream tub full in the freezer for another night! 

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