does anybody know any good chilli con carne recipes
my daughter has to cook a national dish at school,so weve decided on chilli con carne
thx  .x.

how about this for posh....sent to me by Wendy Richards [ Pauline Eastenders] for a book i am writing i'm sure she wont mind you 'borrowing' it
    WENDY`S ...... CHILLI CON CARNE.

3lb. lean minced beef.
3.....chicken bullion cubes.
4.....schwartz mild chilli.
1lb..onions-chopped.
1lb..mushrooms -chopped.
4.....garlic cloves.
1.....tin sweet pimentos.
1/2..bar meuniers cooking chocolate (green wrapper)
1/4..bottle tarragon vinegar.
3.....tbsp.brown sugar.
1.....tbsp.cummin
1.....tbsp.corriander.
1.....tbsp.oregano.
3.....tins red kidney beans.
3.....tins tomatoes.
tomato paste.

method.
fry onions in little olive oil with crushed garlic.
add meat ,together with all seasonings.
add rest of veg,together with made up chicken stock.
(there should be enough to cover).
add chocolate & tomato paste.

gently simmer for about 3 hours,stirring occasionally.
serve with boiled rice or pasta.
grated cheese is also a good addition,sprinkled over the top.

the dish freezes well & gains in strength of flavour.
.....................I THANK YOU..............................W.R. (MBE)

wow
thankyou very much
im sure my daughter will do it justice
.x.

Chocolate in chilli?!!! Surely not!!!! Yuk!!

Yes chocolate goes very well in chilli

You don't taste the chocolate but it adds to the richness.  It needs to be really dark though - no point lobbing in a bar of Dairy Milk!!!!!

I always add a square or cocoa powder to mine.

oooh,i never noticed the chocolate, that'll be interesting!

I'd probably use only a square or two at first and keep tasting as you don't want choccie flavoured chilli!!!

Yes, chocolate and also a couple of teaspoons of concentrated black coffee.........it complements and enhances the flavours! 

>chocolate goes very well in chilli

The Aztecs (who 'invented' chocolate) used to use it with chilli dishes, didn't they?

my daughteers had a look at the recipe,the ingredients are too much.......
"3 tins of tomatoes,how many am i bloomin cookin for,an are you gonna carry the stuff to school for me"

so im afraid,as lovely as it sounds,its a no no.....
anything with less ingredients and shorter cooking time anyone?...lol

1 x jar Uncle Ben's Chilli Con Carne
1lb Minced Beef

LOL
:D :D

Marion

I have the perfect recipe for chilli for kids carrying to school

1 pack of minced beef 500g
1 jar of homepride chilli sauce 450g

lol
the exact same thing i suggested to her as well, i shant tell you what she said to me....lol

Ah chilli, I just got a new supply of peppers in the post today.

I make mine using chunks of beef not mince. I also like to use a variety of chillies; New Mexican Red, Ancho and Pasillas (sometimes Pasillas de Oaxaca) for flavour and a small amount of Habenero for heat. Lots of cumin, Mexican oregano (different flavour to the Italian type), coriander seed and some smoky paprika. Tinned whole tomatoes, onion and garlic - beans are optional. If this recipe sounds at all appealing to you I can write it out properly with the amounts. They may sound hard to get but I can buy all of these in this country (after 10 years here I can find just about anything N. American now)

And yes JG, Mexican cooking uses chocolate in its savoury dishes but it's usually unsweetened or at least very dark, bitter. You can't make Mole without it!

I serve mine with grated cheddar and sour cream on the side (let people dollop their own on) and good fresh bread for dipping in the sauce.

Oops, I took to long to respond. You won't want mine either.

There are a few dishes that might be quicker and kind of fun
Fish tacos (probably the most popular street dish in Ensenada)
Fajitas
Soft tacos
Mole (you can buy premade paste and dilute it from here)

Being from California I can give you more ideas if you want them. Anything from Mexican ceasar salads to more authentic dishes.

thankyou lori
i'll consult with the boss(my daughter,lol) and i'll be back in touch....but tacos sound tasty

Tell her fish tacos are really easy as she can use battered frozen fish fingers.

Fajitas are very quick.

Chilli Beef

3 tbspn veg oil
450g minced beef
1 green pepper diced
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic pressed
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans
1 tspn ground cumin
1-3 tspn chilli powder (depending on how hot you like it)
1 tspn salt
1tspn brown sugar
2 tbspn corriander chopped

Heat oil, brown beef.  Add onion pepper and garlic, cook for 5 mins til soft.  Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to the boil.  Simmer for 30+ mins, stirring frequently.  Stir in corriander just before serving. 

Ok sounding thick here but what is 'mole' 

I'd go with the fajitas and if she has to make something herself how about some tomato salsa?

whats mole...lol
what other fajitas are there?

Mole is a very interesting sauce that has chilli, peanuts, chocolate, raisins - you name it, it's in there. I usually make mine from scratch but your daughter definitely wouldn't want to do that. You can buy that premade paste though. So it's basically chicken or turkey (usually, you could use other meats) with sauce poured on top. It's spicy and has an unusual flavour. I've never had anyone dislike it but we are talking kids so it depends on how adventerous they are. It's a case of server first and tell the ingredients later though or they'll all dwell in the chocolate in the recipe.

Fajitas are Mexican stir fry so very quick. Any meat can be used; thinly sliced flank steak (or similar cut of beef) chicken, shrimp.. The meat can be marinated overnight so on the day she'd only have to quickly fry the meat with the spices, bell peppers and onions. They're served with flour tortillas (should also be heated in a very hot pan or even on an open flame, not fried and please not microwaved! yuck), sour cream, guacamole and salsa. Yum

Edited to ad it's pronounced MOH-lay, so she's not covering chicken in little furry animals.

fajitas i think it is then,theyre delicious!,i think ive had them before,i try all foods,so i probably have..lol
the only thing i know about fajitas is that theyre mexican,do you know anything else about them,only she has to write a bit about the history too
thx .x.

I found a good page on Fajitas with some recipes and cooking instructions (and a nice story about them if it's true). Saves typing. Although I usually use lime juice, olive oil and spices for my marinades and haven't used tequila or beer before.

Forgot to add, don't get the powerdered mixes, they're horrible. More like barbecue sauce than fajitas. If she'd like to make her own guacamole it's very easy to do using salsa and fresh avocados. Much better than the green sludge. And she must heat her tortillas!

Here you go...

A fajita is a generic term used in Tex-Mex cuisine, referring to grilled meat served on a flour or corn tortilla. Though originally only beef, popular meats today also include chicken, pork and shrimp. In restaurants, the meat is often cooked with onions and bell peppers. Popular condiments are sour cream, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, and tomato.

In Spanish, fajita is the diminutive form of the word faja which translates to "belt" or "girdle" in English. Butchers along the Texas border with Mexico used the word to refer to the diaphragm muscle of a steer. Researchers found references to Hispanic ranch hands eating this cut of beef in a tortilla with condiments as early as the 1930s but the word fajita is not known to have appeared in print until 1971, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. In a Mexican Cookery Book published in the Southwest in 1980 there is still no mention of fajitas. Newspaper advertisements for fajitas began appearing in regional newspapers in Texas in 1975.

The cut is known in the U.S. as the skirt steak, and remains popular for making fajitas. In fact, many purists insist that only skirt steak can be used for making fajitas, and that the use of other meats, such as chicken, constitutes another dish altogether. Regardless, use of the word fajita has evolved from the term for a cut of beef to include the cooking method (thus chicken fajita) and also to define the grilled strips of peppers and onions that usually accompany the meat

Sonny Falcon is believed to have operated the first commercial fajita taco stand at a weeklong outdoor event in Kyle, Texas in 1969. He also went to rodeos, fairs, and outdoor festivals selling his fajita taco. An Austin reporter christened him "The Fajita King" and Falcon was able to trademark the name.

The food became popular in restaurants such as Ninfa's and other Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in Houston and San Antonio, Texas. Ninfa's originally called the dish tacos al carbon and later tacos a la Ninfa before using the term fajita.

In many restaurants, the fajita meat is brought to the table sizzling loudly on a metal platter or skillet, with the tortillas and condiments served on the side. This presentation is credited to Chef George Weidmann, chef of the Hyatt Regency La Vista restaurant in Austin, Texas.

thankyou very much gembo for your information on ajitas,im sure my daughter wil find it very useful for her schoolwork.
and thankyou lori too for your ideas.x.
and thankyou anybody else ive missed out....lol

So what did she cook and how did it taste?   my daughters cooking episodes at school have all gone into the bin - her most famous was muffins - melted the butter over the heat and then carried on mixing all the ingredients together over the heat - didnt occur to her that the rest of the class had moved away from the cooker to the counter!!!!!!

hi mw184
she ended up cooking pasta bolognese in the end.....have to say it wasnt as nice as her previous effort the week before,cottage pie,maybe next time she'll listen to mama,lol,i dont think she took enough ingredients to make the sauce,she used a friends recipe