Two Bean Chilli

The chilli journey...

I’ve never been a fan of chilli and beans due to what I remember from scout camps with so much chilli powder that you could fuel a rocket with it and you would remember the heat for days on end… the beans were also dry and mealy and it just really put me off.

Sasha absolutely loves beans - dried, canned or fresh - of any sort. So naturally she wants to cook with them often. I am grateful for her taste in pulses as it has allowed me to re-experience and learn more about them and how to cook with them over the years. Now we have a cupboard half-full with most of the varieties of beans you can think of. 

Therefore beans have made a recurrence in my life since being with Sasha. A lot of my new found confidence with beans has come from understanding, for example, the reason I didn’t like broad beans was because of their papery outer skins. We have now been peeling them for a long time which allows us to experience fully the divine sweetness within. Eating them regularly has transformed my palate and has diversified the types of dishes I like to eat regularly. 

Back to the chilli. The horrifying memory of a pan bubbling away like a cauldron on a campfire with the pungent chilli powder scent and very little flavour to invigorate the imagination still haunts me. The first chilli I ever ate since that fateful day years ago was when Sasha made me one nearer the beginning of our relationship for me to test and try it again. I was very dubious initially. The dish started out as a combination of ideas from various recipes that Sasha adjusted for our tastes. Now over the years, the recipe she guards closely and that I absolutely LOVE (total chilli convert!) has been refined to the most divine, smoky, spicy Mexican bowl of food I have ever tasted. I personally believe this is the best but everyone has their own take on it. There may be an even better one out there somewhere. 

Now the question is vegetarian or meaty? It all depends on what mood we are in or what ingredients we have to which one we make. 

A chilli to us… must be spicy, smoky, flavoursome and whole, where you savour every mouthful as if it’s your last and when you finish you can’t wait for leftovers for lunch the next day or to make it the next time. It’s definitely not so obnoxiously hot you’ll cry and sweat blood, but whatever is right for you, you get to figure that out as we did.

Our palate for heat in foods has changed over time, each time increasing our tolerance… Adjust the recipe to what suits your palate. I remember years ago making a curry which blew our heads off that neither of us could actually eat… another fateful experience... so when the day came around when Sasha said to me… “There isn’t enough heat in this” when I was thinking to myself that it had a nice heat, I was very surprised! Our palates and tastes change over time and are individual, though luckily we do share a lot of the same tastes and our tolerances have increased together. 

When we started playing with more chillies - dried, smoked, much spicier ones… we only used a little but now we just throw the lot in. Play with it and experiment - for us this recipe is perfectly balanced for flavour and heat - it’s been refined over years and now it’s just how we do it. No more refinement from us. If you think anything can be improved let us know what you think would work even better! Maybe one day we may have a eureka moment ourselves!

To finish we love to serve with brown basmati rice, but white will do just fine, whatever you prefer, we love the nuttiness of the brown though. Choose whatever toppings you like - cheddar cheese, sour cream and chopped spring onions are obligatory in our house, sometimes guacamole. With leftovers you can do a variety of things. Baked potato fillings, chilli dog toppings, sloppy joes and nachos. The meat if used can vary from mince to a beef cheek slowly braised in a low oven. We are always sure to use diced chorizo if using meat, it really adds to the depth of flavour. Happy experimenting. 

Two Bean Chilli

Enough for 6 or plenty of leftovers

Ingredients

1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 chilli of your choice, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tbsp chipotles en adobo
1 tbsp tomato puree
400 g can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
400 g can borlotti beans, drained & rinsed
400 g can chopped tomatoes
250 ml stock, we used beef
bay leaf
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
handful fresh coriander
salt and pepper to taste

Notes - We make our own chipotles en adobo, it is easy enough to make if you have the ingredients (to be posted soon). If you don't want to, its available at specialist shops or online. Chipotle paste and chipotles en adobo aren't the same but you could probably substitute it well enough. 

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan with 2 tbsp olive oil and saute onions with a pinch of salt until slightly softened. Add the celery, carrot and pepper and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

2. Add the garlic and chilli and fry for a minute. Add all the cumin, paprika, cinnamon and oregano and fry for a further 2 minutes.

3. Add the fresh tomatoes, chipotles en adobo, tomato puree and stir. Add the beans.

4. Add chopped tomatoes, stock and the bay leaf and 1 tsp of salt. Add the balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, sugar and cocoa powder and give a good stir. Simmer until the veg is cooked and the sauce has reduced and thickened, approx 30 minutes. Finish with a good handful of chopped fresh coriander. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.