Guinness and Chocolate Chilli

Wotchers!

So, my oven died. The main one. I have two, but the top one is even deader. After that went, I was able to limp along for a few weeks making toast with only one of the grill elements working, but then that conked out. With the main oven now gone, I am oven-less. On the plus side, I now have somewhere to dry metalware without it cluttering up the worktop.

Replacing the oven was more challenging than kitchen appliance websites wold have you believe.

Next day delivery? Sure! Not a problem. Relax. We can have your new oven with you tomorrow – just pick a delivery slot.

Oh, you want it connected? *sharp intake of breath*

Wellllll…….that’s going to be a while.

I was initially fretting over what was going to happen with the blog, with no oven. Then I reminded myself that Stuff™ happens and it’s not the end of the world. I have a working ( for now) gas hob, so rather than do the whole wailing/gnashing of teeth/rending of clothes at our oven-less-ness, for the forseeable future we’re going to be looking at stove-top recipes instead.

With all the frosty weather of late, this chilli is as fine a place to start as any.

It’s a bit of a deviation from the traditional, but in a very delicious way. I found a recipe that sounded nice, I decided to make it, I didn’t have several of the ingredients so I improvised with what I did have, and Voila, Chilli!

Guinness & Chocolate Chilli

This makes a large batch. Depending on your appetite, probably 6-8 adult portions. This recipe has no beans, but you can always add some to make it stretch further, or even just because you like them. I suggest freezing it without the beans and adding them only when preparing it for a meal.

For minimal washing up, choose a pan large enough to accommodate all the ingredents and it’ll be the only one you need.

250g smoked bacon – diced small
600g good quality pork sausages – I used Black Farmer – skins removed.
700g lean cubed beef
3 onions – peeled and roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic – peeled
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2tsp ground cumin
1tbs ground coriander
2tsp hot, smoked paprika
2 x 330ml bottles Guinness
400ml carton of pureed tomatoes
400ml tin of chopped tomatoes
2tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1 x Knorr beef stock pot ‘blob’
75g plain, dark chocolate – 60% cocoa

• Fry the bacon in a hot, dry casserole or large frying pan until the edges start to brown. No additional fat is necessary.
• Lift out the cooked bacon and set aside.
• Cook the sausagemeat in the same pan.  Break it up into smaller pieces and stir briskly until it is browned.
• Lift out the cooked sausagemeat and set aside.
• Cook the beef in the same pan until browned on all sides.
• Blitz the garlic and onions in a food processor and add to the pan with the beef.
• Cook the onion mixture with the beef until the onion becomes translucent.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and the cooked bacon and sausage.
• Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.
• Cook until the beef is tender – 1.5 to 2 hours.
• Taste, and season to your own liking.
• Enjoy over rice with a blob of sour cream.
• Portion out and freeze remainders.