Chilli con Carne

We eat a lot of chilli con carne so I thought I'd give it a go. It was really yummy, I'm dead proud :) It was actually meant to be for a do on Sunday but Steve got home before I could hide it in the freezer and commandeered it. Probably just as well because I polished off Vienna's stew yesterday and she'll want something nice and hearty after swimming tomorrow. It's really easy, but if you have a bit of time the night before I'd probably do it then. By the way, this counts as 2 of your 5 a day. I  know, I didn't believe it either.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 red chillis, deseeded and chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 500g mince
• 1 1/2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans
• 2 tsp oregano
• pinch of black pepper (to taste)

Serves: 3

Method:

1. Fry the onion until soft, then add the garlic and fry for 3 minutes. Add the chilli and cook for another few minutes, stirring constantly (you don't need oil because the mince is fatty enough and it will make it a bit too oily if you do)
2. Add the mince and properly brown. Drain the excess fat then stir in the tomato puree until the mince is all evenly coated.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, kidney beans, oregano and season with pepper to taste.
4. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Notes:

• made me feel a lot less poorly after snaffooing this...!

Stuffed Marrow with Pepper

My grandad does the best marrow with shepherd's pie filling inside it, so you could try that too. Here's what I do:

Ingredients:

• 1 large marrow
• 250g mince
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

Serves: 2 adults (not on its own), 1 baby (on its own, unless you're Vienna)

Method:

1. Slit the skin of the marrow, pop it on a baking tray and put in a preheated oven on 160C for 50 mins.
2. After the 50 mins, turn the oven off and leave the marrow in the heat for half an hour.
3. Brown the mince in a frying pan (you don't need any oil because mince is really fatty) then drain the fat away and add the tomato puree and pepper until the pepper is nice and soft.
4. Take the marrow out of the oven, scoop out the seeds and stuff with the mince/pepper mixture.
5. Put the whole thing back in the oven (on 160 again) for 20-30 minutes.

It's nice with Worcestershire sauce but I wouldn't recommend giving that to a baby. This recipe takes time, but it's really easy, and if you leave the mince in little clumps it's easier for a baby to pick up (although you need to take extra care to cook it).