CornBread Topped Chili Concarne

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                     by the Konstant Kraver

I am aware that this blog is called THE SWEET TOOTH CHRONICLES, but winter is setting in, I have the sniffles and was just craving some filling comfort food.

I saw Nigella do this version a while ago and have been itching to try ever since. Today seemed to be the best time to try. As usual though I always seem to be lacking some ingredients that are required for a recipe, which is when improvising becomes a necessity. Since I tend to wing these things, I had to immediately run to my computer after dinner to write down all the changes and additions I had made. I was surprised that it was pretty much all done 1 hour after I started. Coming home from work, and, with the sniffles I did not want to be in the kitchen for any longer than I had too. I served it with sour cream, which I had sprinkled some paprika onto and then drizzled with some sweet chilli sauce. Altogether it was the perfect hit of comfort food.

This recipe does make a rather large amount, so I hope you‘re hungry or it’s a perfect reason to invite some friends around

Ingredients

Chili:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 green chilli sliced

2 teaspoons dried or crushed chili flakes

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

3 cardamom pods, bruised

2 Tbsp tomato paste

600g ground beef beef

2x can (400g) Chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup tomato ketchup

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup sherry

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup water

1 tablespoons cocoa

1 can red kidney beans drained

Cornbread:

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups cornmeal

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3.5 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups semi skimmed milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoons honey

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 can (420g) Cole's creamed corn

1 cups grated Cheddar Cheese

Serving suggestion:

1 cup sour cream

Ground paprika, for dusting

2 Tbsp Sweet Chilli sauce

METHOD

1. Heat the oil in a very large pan and fry the onion and garlic until it begins to soften. Add the chili, coriander, cumin,sliced chilli and crushed cardamom pods and stir well.
   
2. Then break up the ground beef into the pan and, using a fork, keep turning it to separate it as the meat browns. Add the cans of chopped tomatoes, sherry, tomato puree, and water stirring to make a mouth watering red sauce . Add the Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce and stir it all together.
   
3. When the chili starts to boil sprinkle over the cocoa and stir it in. Add the beans and simmer partially covered for about 30-40 min .Season with salt to taste , about 1 1/2 tsp
   
4. At this point you can cool and freeze the chili, or just keep it in the refrigerator overnight. Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius.
   
5. Pour the chili into a large, wide dish or keep in the pan you cooked it in if it is ovenproof.
   
6. Combine the salt, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, honey, and oil in a jug, and then stir into the dry ingredients mixing to make a lovely yellow batter.
   
7. Pour the cornmeal topping over the chili con carne, or blob it over to cover the top as evenly as possible.
   
8. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the cornbread and then bake it in the oven for 30 minutes or until the cornbread topping is risen and golden and the chili underneath is bubbling. How long this takes depends on the how cold or hot the chili was when it went into the oven. Since it's such a huge vat, you may find it easiest to reheat it on the stove in its pan first.
   
9. Let the chili stand for about 5 minutes once out of the oven before cutting the cornbread top into squares or slices to serve with a helping of chili underneath.
   
10. Place the sour cream into another bowls and dust with a little paprika and, drizzle with some sweet chilli sauce.