Chilli-Con-Carne Recipe – “The Chilli With No Name”

This is my second recipe born out of the idea of making a “family friendly” Chilli-Con-Carne, one that wouldn’t take anyone’s head off or melt anyone’s face off. I’d been looking at making one with Guajllo chillies. Guajillo is the dried form of the Mirasol Chilli, it’s one of those name things again. It’s a tasty chilli that doesn’t pack a great deal of heat, around 2,500 to 5,000 scovilles, so less than a Jalapeno even.

They are used a lot in traditional Mexican cooking which is what first peaked my interest in them. As I was looking around for something to make with them, I happened across a recipe that had been in front of me the whole time. My better half bought a book for me last year, Rick Steins Road to Mexico.

I gave it a go as given in the book, but, well. I wouldn’t say I didn’t like it, but I felt it needed more. So here is my version of it. I’ve also adapted it for slow cooking as well as that’s the way I like it.

And, in case you’re wondering – “The Chilli With No Name” is because this is as close to an original traditional Texas style Chilli as I do, it’s named after Clint Eastwoods character in the Italian Spagehetti Western Dollars Trilogy, “The Man with No Name”.

It’s also another recipe where you might need to do some prep work to get the ingredients, not too much effort though and quite readily available thanks to the wonders of the internet.

What you’ll need:

1. 1.5kg Diced Beef
2. 1 Large Onion
3. 6 Cloves of Garlic (Or, the whole bulb which I quite often use)
4. 1 Yellow Bell Pepper
5. 1 Small Red Onion
6. Chillies – Because this aimed at the family I just a couple of green ones, as always use your own discretion on this.
7. 30g Lard
8. 50g Dried Guajillo (Chilli Wizards) (Amazon)
9. 100g Chipotle Paste
10. Tomato Puree
11. Cumin Seeds
12. All Spice Berries
13. Mexican Oregano (Chilli Wizards) (Amazon)

Probably worth a mention that you’ll need a Food Blender for this one as well, I know not everyone has one.

If you’ve followed or seen any of my other recipes then you know I’m a one pot kinda guy most of them time, and this recipe is no exception apart from a slight detour with the food blender.

If you can’t fry in your slow cooker pot then use a frying pan and transfer the contents when you’re ready.

Prep:

1. Finely chop the Onion
2. Finely chop the Garlic

Method:

1. Add the Guajillo Chillies and two tea spoons of Cumin Seeds to your pot and dry fry, you want to stop just shy of actually toasting them but get them nice and warm.
   (This will likely be a couple of minutes with fumes that might not agree with everyone…)
2. Once they’re done remove the Guajillo chillies and place them in a jug with 500ml of just boiled water.
3. Take a teaspoon of crushed All Spice Berries and place them into the water as well.
   
4. Return back to your pot and give your Cumin seeds a little mash to break them up a little (you can thank me for the smell of this later if you’ve never done it before).
5. Add 30g of Lard, your chopped Onion and your chopped Garlic to the pan and fry.
   
6. Once the Onion is nice and soft with a little gold tint to it then add the Chipotle Paste and stir in well
7. Once we’re all stirred up, add the Beef to the pot – You’re just looking to seal it at this point
8. While the beef is getting sealed up, blend your chillies so you get a nice liquid
9. Once you’re satisfied with your Beef, pour in the chilli liquid mix
10. Add 2 x Tablespoons of Tomato Puree
11. Add 2 x Mexican Oregano
12. Add Salt / Black Pepper to taste
13. Give it all good old stir

Transfer it all to your slow cooker and stick it on the low setting for best results.

And that’s it for a while, come back in about 6 hours…

… Welcome back!

Now, you want to be adding in the extra Vegetables and things. You can leave it alone if you’d like. It makes for a good Chilli-Con-Carne as it stands. I bulk it out to make it stretch further round the family. So, this part is optional really – but it’s what I do 9 times out 10.

Prep – Part Two:

1. Roughly chop the Yellow Bell Pepper
2. Roughly chop your Red Onion
3. Roughly chop your Chillies of choice if you’re using them
4. Throw them all into the Slow Cooker and give them a good stir in
5. Wait for another hour or so – We want the beef trembling at the sight of a fork
6. AND, DONE.

I like to serve this one with Red Rice and Sour Cream but as always it’s your call as to how you eat your food.

As always I’d appreciate any feed back on this you might have and I’d love to hear them int he comements.

Enjoy!