Ben’s Hearty Chilli with Cornbread Muffins

Served in a flour tortilla bowl with some white rice and a homemade cornbread muffin; my version of the classic is simply delightful.

So, how do you make it for yourself? Here's the recipe!

Serves: 3-4 persons
Approximate Cooking time: 45 - 60 minutes

I speeded up things a little by using a sachet Chilli Con Carne seasoning. Of course you're more than welcome to make it from scratch; but with many people not having much time to cook these days... I thought it would be a bit easier.

500g Aberdeen Angus lean mince
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
1 can Heinz "Five Beanz"
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 sachet of Chilli Con Carne seasoning
30g of good dark chocolate (you'll see why later!)

I like using a can of Heinz's "Five Beanz"; which contains Red Kidney, Haricot, Pinto, Borlotti and Canellini beans.
You can always just use Kidney Beans and if you want to make a vegetarian chilli; simply leave out the mince.
Obviously other brands may offer the above products; however those happen to be my favourites.

1. Start off by browning the mince in a pan and then add the onion and sweat it out until cooked through.
Drain off any excess liquid before moving on to step 2.

2. Mix the contents of the Chilli Con Carne seasoning with 150ml of cold water, add to the pan and stir through.

3. Gradually add the beans and chopped tomatoes to the pan, again stirring through at the same time.

4. Bring the pan to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

5. Once this time has passed you could turn off the heat and leave the Chilli to stand for a while, which will enhance the flavour.

For six muffins, you'll need:

60g cornmeal
62.5g plain flour
2.5 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil
125ml semi-skimmed milk
1 beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 160C (based on a fan oven) and line a muffin tray with paper cases.

1. Mix the dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) together in a bowl.

2. Mix the egg, milk and vegetable oil in a separate bowl before adding to the dry ingredients.

3. Evenly spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clear.

4. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

When I've enjoyed a Chilli during my travels; sometimes it was served in a flour tortilla bowl, which was quite cool.
I recently purchased some tortilla baking moulds from a local kitchenware store - and they weren't that expensive either.

All you need is a flour tortilla and simply pop it into the mould and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes until firm.
Simply transfer onto a bowl and then it's time to start assembling everything together!

Now's the time to boil up some rice; one portion per person should be enough.

If you turned the heat off the Chilli earlier, now is the time to turn it back on and warm through until the rice is done.

Once the rice is cooked, drain and put each portion into the tortilla bowls.

Before it's time to serve the Chilli; I like to stir in a little bit of dark chocolate, naughty I know....
The addition of chocolate adds an extra depth of flavour (and richness) to the dish.

Simply spoon the Chilli on top of the rice until it's near the top and place one of the cornbread muffins on the side.

Sit down, tuck in and enjoy!