# Chili con carne in a Euro-version...



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

This is my "Euro-chili con carne". A good alternative if you can't find the "right" chilies.

*Ingredients*; _stew beef (I used around 500 grams), onion, garlic, thyme, cumin seeds, dry oregano, nigella seeds (we call that black cumin), chili powder, spanish pimentón (smoked paprika powder- a must in this dish), tomatoes (fresh or canned), tomato puree, 1 tbsp of pain flour, beef stock or plain water, kidney beans(I used canned), aged gouda, sour cream_

You need a pot and a large pan.

- Cut the meat in the smallest parts you're able to produce. Do NOT chop but always make cutting movements.

- in the pot on low fire; sweat the onions for at least 15 minutes, stirring often. Halfway that time, add the chopped garlic and the thyme, cumin and nigella.

- in the pan on high fire; fry the meat in batches if necessary (do not overcrowd the pan). Don't move the meat around all the time but let it get a color. Add the fried meat to the onion mixture. When all the meat is fried, first add a tbsp of flour to the pot, mix gently and let fry for a while. Now, also deglaze the frying pan with some of the beef stock. Let simmer for a while and add to the pot. Add tomatoes, tomato puree and oregano. Add the rest of the beef stock or water, but not higher than the meat. Add 1 tsp of chili powder and 1/2 tsp of pimentón. Let simmer around 90 minutes. Check seasoning. Drain and rinse the kidney beans and add the beans to the meat and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes (or longer if the meat isn't done enough).

- sour cream is easy to make; to 200 ml of cream, add the juice of 1/2 lemon or more. Mix and set aside until it thickens.

- serve chili with a sprinkle of aged Gouda and sour cream on top.





  








chiliConCarneFeb2013A.jpg




__
chrisbelgium


__
Jun 13, 2013











  








chiliConCarneFeb2013B.jpg




__
chrisbelgium


__
Jun 13, 2013












  








chiliConCarneFeb2013C.jpg




__
chrisbelgium


__
Jun 13, 2013











  








chiliConCarneFeb2013C-1.jpg




__
chrisbelgium


__
Jun 13, 2013












  








chiliConCarneFeb2013D.jpg




__
chrisbelgium


__
Jun 13, 2013


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Your recipe looks great and you might consider adding a tiny bit of cinnamon and vanilla bean for that je ne sais quoi.  The civilizations down there used those two spices way more frequently than is published.  To be precise, use Ceylon cinnamon in your beef dish.


----------



## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

another great flavor booster is instant expresso


----------



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Thanks for the suggestions!


----------



## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

Chris those beans look pretty dark, are those red kidney beans? 

I _LOVE_ black beans in my chili, totally different texture form any of the kidney beans.

DH doesn't like beans in any dish, but he's coming around.


----------



## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

What makes this this Euro Style chili?   Looks like standard chili recipe to me, except for flour.


----------



## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Instead of the flour thicken with a masa flour slurry at the end. Adds a little sweetness along with thickening.


----------



## geno (Jun 10, 2012)

They don´t do Chili con Carne in Mexico per say. I make it here and my wife likes it, but it is a TexMex dish.


----------



## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

MaryB said:


> Instead of the flour thicken with a masa flour slurry at the end. Adds a little sweetness along with thickening.







  








Corn_Muffin_Mix.jpg




__
kaneohegirlinaz


__
Jun 14, 2013







I use a bit of this; I keep it in a zip-top bag in the `fridge,

start with a tablespoonful mixed into a slurry with some of hot broth,

then stir that into the batch and cook until thickened toyour liking.

Saw that on Americas Test Kitchen/Cooks Country here in the US on PBS.

Turns out beautiful each time.


----------



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

@ K-girl; the beans are indeed kidney beans

@ Mary & K-girl, Ed; I read a lot about making chili con carne on American sites and I found out that "masa harina" was used frequently.

Adding flour in the beginning of the cooking is something I inheritated from many European stew dishes. You add the flour so it makes some sort of roux with the fat in which the onions and meat is cooked. When adding liquid, it will slightly thicken the sauce. Also, the flour taste will disappear completely when cooking for a long time. Another advantage is that when serving the dish, the liquid doesn't sink completely to the bottom of the plate and doesn't leave the solids looking "mat" since the sauce now sticks to the meat and makes it look a bit glossy and appetizing. The flour has no contribution at all to the flavor.

Another "Euro" thing is that I have to use powdered chili as an alternative for using the right (dried) peppers which are not available over here. Again, the smokey Spanish pimenton is a real must but to be used very sparingly!

@Gino;very true, chili con carne is an American dish.

I'm now making larger batches of my chili and freeze it in portions. Like many stews, when reheated, it's even better!


----------



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

I needed some fresh dille, so I went to my favorite etnic store (run by a guy from Pakistan) and found these irregular peppers that I mentioned before. The bell peppers are there to give an impression how big they are, well, how tiny. I thought they would be hot as hell, but... zero point zero on my or Scoville's scale! They even taste a bit like bell peppers.

They look nice though, I'm thinking about stuffing them with something and use them as appetizers.





  








pepers.jpg




__
chrisbelgium


__
Jun 16, 2013


----------



## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

There is a habenero chili out there that has been breed for no heat. Those would be good stuffed with cream cheese topped with a bit of bacon.


----------



## geno (Jun 10, 2012)

MaryB said:


> There is a habenero chili out there that has been breed for no heat. Those would be good stuffed with cream cheese topped with a bit of bacon.


 A habeneero Pepper breed for no heat? What´s the point? China flooded the market here in mexico with peppers that look like the real thing...but they tasted like bell peppers. No one buys them, the point is the heat...They probably ship them to the USA now.


----------



## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

ChrisBelgium said:


> The bell peppers are there to give an impression how big they are, well, how tiny. I thought they would be hot as hell, but... zero point zero on my or Scoville's scale! They even taste a bit like bell peppers.
> 
> They look nice though, I'm thinking about stuffing them with something and use them as appetizers.


No kidding? I'd never heard of that before... a habanero breed to be sweet... I agree this geno, what's the point? But maybe Chris has the point, used as an appetizer...

I use to be able to get this lovely shrimp&crab spread at Costco in Hawaii in a big-o-tub and I stuffed pepperonis with it, maybe this little sweet peppers would be nice that way too? Beautiful on a buffet table!


----------



## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

These hybrid tiny peppers are real nice. They last a long time , have almost no seed and come in variety of colors. They taste  like a sweet bell pepper. I buy them often at vege market near me very inexpensive $1.00 for a 1 1/2 pint cello package. I cut and freeze them for later use


----------



## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Pretty strange. Some of these peppers look like the real thing,.... That would be a bit of a mess up, if you assume they are mild and they turn out to be scotch bonnets and you serve them as starters 
Chris, do you ever get into Holland? You can get pretty hot chili's there in the toko's (shops with all kind of Indonesian food items).


----------



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

butzy said:


> Pretty strange. Some of these peppers look like the real thing,.... That would be a bit of a mess up, if you assume they are mild and they turn out to be scotch bonnets and you serve them as starters
> Chris, do you ever get into Holland? You can get pretty hot chili's there in the toko's (shops with all kind of Indonesian food items).


Butzy, you could mistake these ones (like I did) for the "madam jeannette" variety that you recently mentioned in another post; those are hotter than hell. They do look somewhat similar, but as Mary and Ed said, the ones I bought are sweet like bell peppers.

Oh yes, I frequently go to Holland, more specific Sluis, like many Belgians. Lots of mussel restaurants and not to forget Oud Sluis, Sergio Herman's 3 michelin star restaurant. I never ate there, it might burn a very large hole in my wallet... But à propos, Sergio is closing that restaurant later this year, he's going to start again from zero in Antwerpen next year.

Almost forgot; there are no tokos in Sluis but once in a while I go to Amsterdam, maybe later this year. I looooooove Amsterdam!


----------



## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@ Chris,

This link might help you: http://tokowijzer.nl/tokos/


----------



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Oh, that's fantastic information, Butzy. Thanks!


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

FWIW: at LA FIESTA MEXICAN RESTAURANT located in Hayward, Calif., on the menu were both Chili Verde and Chili Colorado.


Verde: made with chunks of boston butt and mostly green colored chilis.
Colorado: made with chunks of 7 bone roast aka pot roast along with lots of paprika and whatever chilis.
Enjoy!


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

geno said:


> A habeneero Pepper breed for no heat? What´s the point? China flooded the market here in mexico with peppers that look like the real thing...but they tasted like bell peppers. No one buys them, the point is the heat...They probably ship them to the USA now.


Funny, but here in the deep south it's a very rare occasion that I get from Wally's a jalapeno that has some real heat. And for the past several years chili japonais dried peppers seem to lack the heat that I was so used to tasting back in the 90's.


----------

