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teylaminhWe had 'Wetherspoon-style' chilli con carne last night... So here's a recipe, courtesy mostly of none other than Marguerite Patten (seriously, her book is a kitchen lifesaver...) - enjoy!
Chilli Con Carne, Wetherspoon Style
This will serve four people easily.
Ingredients
500g mince (beef or your preferred substitute)
1x large onion, chopped
1x green pepper, choppped
2x handfuls baby button mushrooms, halved
1x can chopped tomatoes
1x can kidney beans (drained)
1tbsp chilli powder
2tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
1/4 pint cold water
2oz butter (or approximation :P)
Worcester sauce (my Magic Ingredient)
50g rice per person
Soured cream
Tortilla chips / nachos / Doritos / whatever.
Method
Melt the butter in a pan, then fry the onion and pepper until soft. (Oh, you're also supposed to chop up two sticks of celery to put in at this stage, but I had no celery...)
Add the mince and cook until slightly browned, then add the tomatoes and kidney beans. Stir until everything is mixed together, then add the seasoning (chilli powder, paprika, salt and pepper and Worcester sauce - you are also meant to add Cayenne pepper, but again I have none...). Finally, add the water.
Simmer for about an hour, stirring periodically (about every 15 minutes or so). Add more water if it starts to look dry.
Cook the rice towards the end according to pack instructions. Mine was quick-cook rice so I did it for the last 12 minutes or so of the cooking time.
Presentation
Drain the rice, and place a layer in the bottom of a bowl (I used balti bowls because they look cool). Place a portion of the chilli on top of the rice. Put a dollop (about one soup-spoon's worth) of soured cream on top of the chilli, then place tortillas pointed-end up around the edge of the bowl so it looks like a sunflower.
Eat and enjoy.
As we are having the remainder of it tonight, I might take a picture of how awesome it looked...
It's literally the easiest thing to cook ever, apart from toast or something. Alternatively you can cook the rice beforehand and throw it in with all the other ingredients, or have the chilli on baked potatoes. Et voila.
In other news, I am in something of a musical quandary, and trying to decide whether or not to buy a couple of albums... My plan is to check them out for free on Spotify before I go and spend any money. For starters, I really like the Noisettes' new single because it sounds really retro-disco-esque (I don't know the title; the chorus ends in "always remember me"), despite not really liking "Go Baby Go" very much - though it's growing on me...
My other quandary is Katie Perry. I really, really didn't like "I Kissed a Girl" because it was bloody stupid, but I really like "Waking up in Vegas" (and from what I've heard of "Hot and Cold" or whatever it's called, I quite like that one too...) I also find myself increasingly getting Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" in my head, which, NO. I didn't particularly like her personality when she was on Jonathan Ross and haven't heard anything else she's done.
So, yes. Spotify would seem to be the answer.
I spent an evening the other day searching for Killers videos from alternative sources, as most of them cannot be viewed on YouTube in the UK because of copyright reasons (which is a bit rubbish, though I imagine most of them are on the singles...) - the video for "Mr Brightside" is probably my favourite, if we exclude the one Tim Burton directed ("Bones"), which loses points for Brandon Flowers sporting a rather questionable beard. :P
I don't think I can find anything else to ramble about. Best go find some work to do.
Chilli Con Carne, Wetherspoon Style
This will serve four people easily.
Ingredients
500g mince (beef or your preferred substitute)
1x large onion, chopped
1x green pepper, choppped
2x handfuls baby button mushrooms, halved
1x can chopped tomatoes
1x can kidney beans (drained)
1tbsp chilli powder
2tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
1/4 pint cold water
2oz butter (or approximation :P)
Worcester sauce (my Magic Ingredient)
50g rice per person
Soured cream
Tortilla chips / nachos / Doritos / whatever.
Method
Melt the butter in a pan, then fry the onion and pepper until soft. (Oh, you're also supposed to chop up two sticks of celery to put in at this stage, but I had no celery...)
Add the mince and cook until slightly browned, then add the tomatoes and kidney beans. Stir until everything is mixed together, then add the seasoning (chilli powder, paprika, salt and pepper and Worcester sauce - you are also meant to add Cayenne pepper, but again I have none...). Finally, add the water.
Simmer for about an hour, stirring periodically (about every 15 minutes or so). Add more water if it starts to look dry.
Cook the rice towards the end according to pack instructions. Mine was quick-cook rice so I did it for the last 12 minutes or so of the cooking time.
Presentation
Drain the rice, and place a layer in the bottom of a bowl (I used balti bowls because they look cool). Place a portion of the chilli on top of the rice. Put a dollop (about one soup-spoon's worth) of soured cream on top of the chilli, then place tortillas pointed-end up around the edge of the bowl so it looks like a sunflower.
Eat and enjoy.
As we are having the remainder of it tonight, I might take a picture of how awesome it looked...
It's literally the easiest thing to cook ever, apart from toast or something. Alternatively you can cook the rice beforehand and throw it in with all the other ingredients, or have the chilli on baked potatoes. Et voila.
In other news, I am in something of a musical quandary, and trying to decide whether or not to buy a couple of albums... My plan is to check them out for free on Spotify before I go and spend any money. For starters, I really like the Noisettes' new single because it sounds really retro-disco-esque (I don't know the title; the chorus ends in "always remember me"), despite not really liking "Go Baby Go" very much - though it's growing on me...
My other quandary is Katie Perry. I really, really didn't like "I Kissed a Girl" because it was bloody stupid, but I really like "Waking up in Vegas" (and from what I've heard of "Hot and Cold" or whatever it's called, I quite like that one too...) I also find myself increasingly getting Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" in my head, which, NO. I didn't particularly like her personality when she was on Jonathan Ross and haven't heard anything else she's done.
So, yes. Spotify would seem to be the answer.
I spent an evening the other day searching for Killers videos from alternative sources, as most of them cannot be viewed on YouTube in the UK because of copyright reasons (which is a bit rubbish, though I imagine most of them are on the singles...) - the video for "Mr Brightside" is probably my favourite, if we exclude the one Tim Burton directed ("Bones"), which loses points for Brandon Flowers sporting a rather questionable beard. :P
I don't think I can find anything else to ramble about. Best go find some work to do.
