Chef´s Choice – Slow Cooker Recipes
Chili con Carne
I personally came in contact with a slow cooker for the first time in my life by the advice of my English neighbours. And I was immediately impressed by the concept, because it saves a lot of time in the kitchen and above all the dishes taste. You can leave the cooker without supervision during cooking and you decide when the dish should be ready! Oddly enough these practical kitchen appliances are largely unknown in Germany.
So, for readers who don´t know what a slow cooker is, here comes a brief explanation:
A slow cooker, also known as a Crock-Pot (a trademark that is sometimes used generically in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance that is used for simmering, which requires maintaining a relatively low temperature (compared to other cooking methods such as baking, boiling, and frying), allowing unattended cooking for many hours of pot roast, stews, soups, “boiled” dinners and other suitable dishes, including dips, desserts and beverages.
Ingredients
- 1 kg lean minced beef
- 100-120 g tomato paste
- 400 g canned chopped tomatoes, with liquid
- 400 g canned red kidney beans, drained
- 250 g canned corn, drained
- 2 medium size onions, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1 tspn ground cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tspn sugar
- 1 tspn dried oregano
- 1 tspn ground black pepper
- 1 tspn salt
- 1 tspn ground cumin
- 2 tbsp chili powder
Preparation
Sear the minced beef in a large frying pan in a little bit of olive oil.
Place the meat in the slow cooker.
Add the red wine, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, red kidney beans, corn, onions and bell pepper, mingle all together.
Combine with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, sugar, oregano, cumin and chili powder.
Cover and cook on Low setting for 8 to 10 hours, Medium setting for 6 to 8 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 5 hours. DO NOT take off the lid during cooking!
Note: It is often recommended to shortly brown ingredients in a frying pan just before they come into the slow cooker. This is an option the cook decides, you can usually do without it. In case of minced meat I would advice it.
