Beef Chili and Potato Pie

Effectively a spicy cottage pie, with chilli, red kidney beans and chickpeas. Made to use up some leftover beef chilli. 

The beans and chickpeas were soaked in unsalted water over night, and were added to the beef chilli (which already contained onions and carrots). 

The beef chilli was decanted into a standard pie tin, and mashed potato was laid on top, and textured with a fork. Placed on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to at least 180 deg C, for between forty minutes to an hour. Check progress by eye, and remove from the oven when the pie is sufficiently browned. Serve dressed with a little coriander. 

 

Beef Chilli with Carrots, Red Pepper, and Coriander

A healthy ground beef chilli with lots of vegetables - red kidney beans, carrot, onion, mushroom, chillies, red pepper, garlic, tomato puree (or tinned tomatoes), plus the herbs coriander and basil. 

The beef had been prepared the day before (with the Bisto browning), and was added to the pot, along with the diced vegetables, the red kidney beans, the garlic and the chillies, and tomato puree. Simmered under glass for an hour and a half. Added coriander and basil during the final ten minutes. 

Served with basmati rice, and dressed with a dusting of dried coriander.  

Beef Chilli, with Grated Cheese

A beef chilli, with red kidney beans, onions, tomatoes,garlic, and beef stock,  served with grated Galloway cheese. That works really well. Galloway cheese is slightly more mild than the standard Cheddar cheese, but either will do for this dish.

Served with a crunchy side salad of lettuce and other vegetables. Dressed with dried coriander leaf. Plus a lot of freshly ground black pepper.  Delicious!

Chicken, Rice and Bean Soup

Black and white rice cooked originally for a risotto. The black rice was cooked separately for fifteen minutes, and then drained.

Made with red kidney beans, chickpeas, diced leek, carrot, plus vegetable and chicken stock, and tomato puree. With the addition of black pepper, oregano, and coriander leaf.

The chicken came from roasted chicken thighs, and the meat was diced before being added to the soup.

The soup was simmered under glass for an hour and fifteen minutes. Served with home made bread, made with Khorasan wheat (Kamut).

Madras Bean Curry, with Flat Cut Turmeric Potatoes

A simple vegetarian Madras bean curry, made with kidney beans, black chickpeas, white and red onion, diced orange pepper, Green peas, powdered ginger, carrot, salt, tomato puree, and diced green finger chillies (3).

The black chickpeas were soaked overnight, but the kidney beans and the peas came from tins. The curry was based on those, plus carrots, white onion, Madras curry powder, ginger powder, tomato puree, and diced finger chilli. Cooked for at least an hour and a half under glass.

The dish was served with flat cut potato pieces, cooked in turmeric and salted water for twenty five minutes under glass. Plus a side-serving of finely sliced red onion, strips of orange pepper, and garden peas, steamed for half an hour.

The dish was dressed in a large pinch of coriander leaf. Delicious!

Beef Chilli, with Mushrooms, Red Kidney Beans, and Plain Yoghurt

Diced Scotch beef, leek, carrot, chestnut mushrooms, red kidney beans, tomato puree, crushed garlic, paprika, red chilli powder, and beef stock. Plus some oregano, and basil.

The beef was browned for twenty minutes at a medium heat in some sunflower oil.

Allow to stand for a bit while the vegetables are prepared. Cook in boiling water for about two hours at a low heat, under glass, until the beef is tender. Serve with two or three spoonfuls of yoghurt.

Beef Chilli Egg Noodle

Egg noodles from the local Co-op. Stir fried in olive oil for ten minutes, along with some turmeric rice from the fridge, at an intitial high heat, and then lowered.

The beef chilli was pre-made with corned beef, chillli powder (half a dessert spoonful) two varieties of chickpeas, plus red kidney beans,
and onions.

All the chickpeas and beans were dried, and soaked overnight until soft. Sweetcorn from the cob can be added.

I added beef stock to the chilli, and diced garlic.

Delicious and filling!

Beef Chilli, with Red Kidney Beans

Made with ground beef, chickpeas, red kidney beans, sweetcorn, red pepper, red chilli, tomato puree, chestnut mushrooms, diced leek, potato, garlic, and spring onion.

The ground beef was prepared first, browned in a little sunflower oil at a medium heat for about 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Then boiling water was added.

Thickened with half a teaspoonful of arrowroot, and flavoured with beef stock. The sweetcorn came straight from the cob, though tinned sweetcorn will do just as well.

The dried chickpeas and the kidney beans were soaked overnight, drained, and then cooked in fresh water with powdered red chilli and crushed garlic. Then simmered with the beef, sweetcorn, diced red pepper, mushrooms, tomato puree, potato, and chopped spring onion. The beef stock and another half a dessert spoonful of red chilli powder were added last.

Serve with plain boiled basmati rice, or with a chilled Greek yoghurt.

Corned Beef Chilli

An excellent chilli made with corned beef, red kidney beans, sweetcorn, onion, mushrooms, red and green diced pepper, along with garlic, tomato puree, paprika, beef stock, and some basil.

The kidney beans were soaked overnight along with some finely chopped garlic. The beans were cooked for twenty minutes with diced onion, until soft. Then about half a standard sized tin of corned beef was added,  broken up with a stirrer, and stirred through the mix.

Followed by the addition of beef stock, two squirts of tomato puree, a teaspoonful of chilli powder, diced red and green pepper, diced mushrooms (six), and half a small tin of sweetcorn (drained).

Cooked for about 50 minutes at a low simmer under glass, after which half a teaspoonful of paprika was added, along with half a teaspoonful of dried basil. Simmer for a further ten minutes, while the rice is being prepared.

Served with long grain rice, dressed in a sprinkling of coriander leaf.

Chorizo Stew with Kidney Beans

The Kidney Beans were soaked overnight. The rest of the vegetable items were stir-fried for fifteen minutes at a medium heat in sunflower oil (onion, carrot, potato, red pepper, and mushroom, along with the diced chorizo sausage (about 150 g).

Add boiling water (about a cupful), the vegetable stock, the tomato puree (three squirts), the beans, and the herbs (oregano, herbes de provence). Cook for one hour until the sauce has the desired consistency, and serve with some lightly turmericed long grain rice.

Spanish Rice, Beans and Olives

A casserole oven-cooked dish, which is essentially a paella, but not cooked in a paella pan.

The onion was diced, the chillies were deseeded and diced, and placed in a little olive oil in the casserole dish, along with a third of a cup of American long grain rice. I added the olives and some minced garlic. Plus some turmeric and tomato passata.

The beans had been soaking since the preceding evening, so they were ready to be added also. The oven was preheated to 190 deg C. A cupful of hot water was added.

Like paella, the dish is ready when most of the moisture has been absorbed by the rice, but it should not be dry. I cooked this with the lid on for half an hour, and then I checked its progress. The dish went back into the oven, but this time without the lid. In another twenty minutes it was ready to serve.

I added no herbs or vegetable stock.A delicious and simple dish to prepare.

Red Beans and Rice with Chilli Sauce

Red kidney beans with black wild rice and American long grain rice, in a hot sauce.

Other ingredients are quartered mushrooms, two small julienned onions, red and green (deseeded) chillies, seven small crushed and diced cloves of garlic.

The dried kidney beans were soaked overnight, then boiled for ten to fifteen minutes (they are poisonous to a small degree if you don't do that, but if you do, they are fine). They were drained and set aside for a few minutes while I got on with the other ingredients.

The onion, the diced chillies and the garlic were stir-fried in sunflower oil for three to four minutes at a medium heat. Then I added the quartered onion, some white pepper, and a knob of butter. Stir fried for a couple of minutes, then I added the kidney beans and the hot sauce (in this case a favourite sweet chilli sauce), plus a little water so that it did not become too thick while heating. Stirred occasionally and removed from the heat when hot, and at the preferred consistency.

The rice had been prepared the preceding day for another dish, so essentially it was briefly reheated when taken from the fridge (two minutes simmering in water, or reheated in the microwave). The black rice takes longer to cook, so when the rice was originally prepared the black rice spent fifteen minutes in the pan before the long grain rice was added. Stirred frequently and ready after a further ten minutes of boiling.

Serve the beans on top of the rice. A delicious dish, worth the preparation and cooking time (about thirty minutes).

Chickpea, Kidney Bean, and Black Bean Curry

A vegetarian recipe, with chickpeas, red kidney beans, leek, potato, and red chilli. Built on an existing garlic and black bean sauce.

I used dried chickpeas and red kidney beans, so they were soaked overnight. Then they were boiled for forty-five minutes, along with the potato pieces, the garlic and black bean sauce, and the diced leek. After that I added the ginger, the Madras curry powder, and the red chilli.

Diced coriander leaf was then added, and stirred through. Served with two lightly toasted Peshwari naans, and a serving of lime pickle. Fabulous!

Cottage Pie with Ground Beef Chilli

Chilli Con Carne, prepared in the guise of a cottage pie.

I used dried kidney beans, so they were soaked overnight, and cooked for twenty minutes the next morning, until soft.

I browned 500g of Scottish ground beef (minced beef) in some sunflower oil, for twenty minutes stirring frequently. After fifteen minutes I added diced red onion, and batoned carrot.

After the twenty minutes I added three quarters of a pint of boiling water, plus four green chillies (deseeded and diced), the garlic, the diced whole red pepper, and four squirts of tomato puree.

The dish was simmered for an hour under glass at a low heat. Then I mashed the carrots a little, and added diced mushrooms (in this case both white and chestnut varieties), and some shredded spinach leaves. At this point I added the kidney beans to the dish, and stirred them through. Simmered under glass for another hour. After which I added the beef and vegetable stock, plus generous pinches of basil and oregano. Simmered for another ten minutes or so.

Making the pie.

Allow the chilli to cool, and then add to a roasting dish. On top of the layer of chilli, add a thin layer of yoghurt, along with some grated cheddar cheese. Add an onion and potato mash on top of that, and more grated cheese. Texture the surface with a fork.

Cook the pie on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to around 190 deg C for fifty minutes or so. Check the pie every five minutes or so after half an hour in the oven to check progress.

Ground Beef Chilli with Kidney Beans

This beef chilli is more like an authentic Mexican chilli dish than the last one I published (chilli con carne), since I added kidney beans and a generous amount of tomato puree (tomato passata will do instead), and I served the dish with yoghurt.

I used dried kidney beans, so they were soaked overnight, and cooked for twenty minutes the next morning, until soft.

I browned 500g of Scottish ground beef (minced beef) in some sunflower oil, for twenty minutes stirring frequently. After fifteen minutes I added diced red onion, and batoned carrot.

After the twenty minutes I added three quarters of a pint of boiling water, plus four green chillies (deseeded and diced), the garlic, the diced whole red pepper, and four squirts of tomato puree.

The dish was simmered for an hour under glass at a low heat. Then I mashed the carrots a little, and added diced mushrooms (in this case both white and chestnut varieties), and some shredded spinach leaves. At this point I added the kidney beans to the dish, and stirred them through. Simmered under glass for another hour. After which I added the beef and vegetable stock, plus generous pinches of basil and oregano. Simmered for another ten minutes or so.

Served with basmati rice, which was first component to be on the dish. I added two dessert spoonfuls of yoghurt along the inward edge of the rice, and then added the beef chilli. I used no cheese topping on this occasion, but often I add some grated cheddar. Delicious either way!

Baked Potato with Ground Beef Chilli

Maris Piper baked potato, with a ground beef chilli, made with leek, red kidney beans, chilli, and basil. Plus grated cheddar cheese.

The potato was partially cut in two, and with a v-aped wedge in the middle. Brushed with sunflower oil, and then cooked in the oven at 190 deg C for an hour, wrapped in tin foil.

The ground beef was prepared first - cooked in sunflower oil for twenty minutes to half an hour, until browned. Then the (chopped) leek was added. After ten minutes, add boiling water, tomato puree, kidney beans, chopped basil, vegetable stock, and five topped finger chillies. Cook under glass for another 90 minutes.

Mix grated cheddar with black pepper, and chopped basil. Spoon the ground beef chilli into the groove of the potato. Add the grated cheese on top. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes. Garnish the dish with sprigs of basil, and serve.

Beef Chilli with Pan-fried Tortilla, Greek Yoghurt, and Coriander

Some bargain 5% fat ground beef from Sainsbury's prompted me to make a beef chilli. With red
onion, four deseeded green chillies, chopped carrot, diced red pepper, a tin of red kidney beans, shredded fresh coriander, garlic, beef and vegetable stock, tomato puree.

First brown the beef at a medium heat for 20 minutes. Since the fat content is so low, it needs a little oil for this. Lean meat is often a curse, since the fat content is an important component in the cooking process. So beef with most of the fat trimmed away isn't a boon to the cook.

Once the beef is browned (stir frequently), add boiling water. Add the chopped red onion, the red pepper, the kidney beans, and the carrot. Simmer at a low heat under glass for 45 minutes to an hour.

Add the tomato puree (about a third of a standard tube), the chopped green chillies, the garlic, the beef and vegetable stock, and a handful of shredded coriander, which should be stirred through the salsa. Cook for at least another half an hour at a low heat.

The Garlic and herb tortilla should be soaked under the cold water tap on both sides until soft, and then pan-fried in sunflower oil at a medium heat for three minutes on each side, until it begins to brown.

Lay the tortilla on the plate, and smear three dessert spoonfuls of yoghurt on the upper surface. Add the desired amount of the beef chilli on top, slighty to one side. The tortilla will soften again in about a minute, after which it can be folded over.

Serve with extra Greek yoghurt, and some more shredded coriander. Delicious!

Fast Quiche Salad with Chilli Beans

Shop bought quiche from Morrisons, with red onion and spring onion, and cheddar and red Leicester cheese.

Served with sliced tomato and raw carrot, and a serving of red kidney beans in a chilli sauce.

So one item in a box from the fridge, another in a tin, with only two other ingredients to prepare. Ready in two minutes!