Cooking & EatingChili con carne is originally a Mexican stew. You don’t need much: meat, garlic, onions, tomatoes and beans are often enough. But how do you make this dish yourself? For example, which herbs do you need, and how do you ensure that it does not become too spicy?
“To me, chili con carne is the ultimate comfort food,” begins Simone van den Berg, founder of cooking blog Simone’s Kitchen† “Fill up a nice pan and then eat on the couch with a plate on your lap. What definitely needs to be in it for me is minced meat, bell pepper, onion, garlic, carrot, celery and kidney beans.” Van den Berg prefers to go for half-and-half when it comes to minced meat. “That is slightly less dry than ground beef, but both are of course possible.”
Mix of beans
Chili con carne usually contains kidney beans, but according to Van den Berg you can also opt for brown beans or aduki beans. “The latter are less well-known, but you can now also get them in cans in some supermarkets. It’s nice to change things up every now and then. I also supplement it with cans of tomatoes, tomato puree and then of course the spices.”
In the chili con carne of Eva de Vries, founder of food blog Eef Cooks Zo, contains ground beef, beans, tomatoes, tomato paste and beef broth. ,,I like to use a mix of different beans, such as brown beans, kidney beans and possibly black beans. Some diced corn or bell pepper is also very tasty. When I make chili sin carne I simply omit the minced meat and go for extra beans and vegetables. It is the ideal dish to use up leftover vegetables.”
“For chili sin carne you can opt for vegetarian minced meat, but personally I usually don’t think that is necessary,” says Van den Berg. She also simply leaves the mincemeat out. “Because of the beans it is already quite filling. What I often do in the case of a chili sin carne is that I use a mix of beans, for example with lentils as an extra.”
My ‘secret’ ingredient for the best chili con carne is cocoa powder
Spicy seasonings
“My ‘secret’ ingredient for the tastiest chili con carne is cocoa powder,” says De Vries. ,,Unsweetened cocoa powder gives a delicious, full and deep flavor to the chili. You can of course also use this trick when making chili sin carne. I also like to use lots of spices in my chili. Paprika powder, onion powder, cinnamon, coriander powder, oregano and of course chili flakes. I don’t make it too spicy, because then the whole family can eat it. But if you want some extra spice, add some extra chili flakes and possibly a little cayenne pepper or simply fry a chili pepper with the minced meat. Extra tasty and deliciously spicy! Then serve it with some sour cream or crème frache, grated cheese, wraps and/or tortilla chips.”
Chili should be spicy, says Van den Berg. ,,So as a seasoning, I often add an extra red pepper. In addition, chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika. That’s basically the basics, pretty simple. It is therefore not complicated to make a chili less hot if you don’t like spicy: just sprinkle a little less hard with the chili powder.”
“There are people who eat chili con carne with rice or potatoes as standard, but I personally think that is a bit redundant,” says Van den Berg, who uses the recipe for her chili con carne on her own. site shares. ,,So I just eat it as is or I supplement it with pieces of fresh avocado, nachos or sour cream. I also sometimes eat a chili con carne without beans. Not everyone is a fan of beans and then it just becomes a nice spicy meat dish.”
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