I am sure by now that those of you who really go all out for Halloween have got all your porches and homesteads superbly decorated…..I would love to see some of your images here it is not celebrated only by the expats so there are some token decorations in the shopping malls and very pretty they look…But it is not like I imagine the real Halloween celebrations to look… It is too staged and perfect…

But I digress what have I got for you today?

A great chilli recipe as when its cold I think a lovely big pan of chilli goes down well with most,  A lovely jacket potato especially if it is cooked in the coals of your BBQ or fire or my favourite what my mum used to do was to roast chestnuts in the ash pan underneath the fire…

Chilli Con Carne … Carol’s Way…

Ingredients:

• 500 gm lean minced Beef ( I use pork) as I can’t get minced beef here.
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 red or yellow pepper chopped
• 3/4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger finely chopped
• 1-3 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or 1 level tbsp if you only have mild)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1 pint of fresh made beef or vegetable stock
• 400 gm fresh chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp sugar…I sneak this in when no one is looking as it brings out the sweetness of the tomatoes.
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 410 gm can red kidney beans, drained or pre-soaked dried kidney beans.

Let’s Cook!
Put the olive oil in a large pan and heat add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger, bay leaves and cumin seeds cook until onions are translucent about 5 minutes.
I like to add my cumin seeds with the onions as it brings out their full flavour and we love cumin.
Add the minced meat and cook, stirring until nicely browned.
Add the tomatoes, stock, peppers and tomato puree stirring in well and bring to a soft simmer.
Add the paprika, marjoram and sugar.
Cook for 20 minutes now this is where I taste and add more chilli and usually more cumin seeds and then add the drained kidney beans and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice and sour cream sprinkled with smoked paprika ( optional)

Enjoy!

Halloween Trivia! Did you know?

The 1978 blockbuster, Halloween, was only made in 21 days on a very limited budget.

My second Chilli recipe from a friend of mine …Richard and it is his vegetarian chilli…Thank Richard it is very nice. It is Richards recipe with a Thai twist and tasty…

Vegetarian Chilli with lentils.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion roughly chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 1 stick of celery finely chopped
• 1 tomato finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 chillies
• 125 gm mushrooms chopped
• A handful of chopped green beans
• 100 gm black lentils
• 1 tbsp each of fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar
• Basil Leaves

Then cook as normal ensuring lentils are cooked through.

The instructions are as I received them as Richard obviously knows I can cook…lol

For anyone needing more details then cook as my chilli recipe above but adding lentils instead of the meat. I did add a couple more tomatoes and some kidney beans to Richards original recipe….I also soaked my lentils… he doesn’t as he likes his lentils al dente…

Cooking is all about personal taste and I sometimes just chuck it in the pot and take it from there… That’s how I cook most of the time and TASTE…

Enjoy!

Did you know?

Pumpkins are not only orange, but also white, blue, and green?

Some mocktails for the kiddywinks.

Did you know?

Hundreds of vampire clubs and societies exist and claim to have real vampires as their members.

They may have had dental work on their teeth but really vampires?? What do you think ??

Have you got any favourite Halloween recipes you would like to share next Friday if so PM me and I will showcase them and link back to you 🙂 x

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week 🙂 xx