Organic October and Autumn Suppers:
~ Bonfire Chilli with Beef, Chocolate and Pumpkin ~
Organic October and Autumn Suppers: Bonfire Chilli with Beef, Chocolate and Pumpkin
Autumn means……..
crisp mornings, misty mornings, crackling leaves, vibrant berries, Old Man’s Beard in tangled hedgerows, apples on damp grass, the smell of wood smoke, bonfires, woolly scarves, boots, red mittens, duffle coats, log fires, glistening dew covered cobwebs, pumpkins, candles, piles of books on the bedside table, crumpets, casseroles, dumplings, steamed puddings, the last rose of summer, fireworks, hot chocolate, fluffy duvets, tartan rugs, fireside suppers, Arran jumpers, wellies, toasting forks, hot buttered toast, soup, toffee apples, bright stars, wind, rain, cordite, robin redbreasts, orange and scarlet, gold and russet, big socks, sausages, tomato soup, cassoulet and chilli……
GO*DO Organic Chocolate Bars
……and in this chilli recipe I’m sharing with you today, is a very special ingredient, organic chocolate for a richness and depth of flavour that goes to well with the British beef and home-grown pumpkin. Whilst attending Jane Baxter’s Pop Up Kitchen at the Abergavenny Food Festival recently, I was lucky enough to take home an Organic Goodie Bag stuffed full with all sorts of delicious ingredients and products, including some GO*DO organic chocolate bars……In Italian the word GODO means to enjoy sensual pleasure. GO*DO chocolate bars are made by a third-generation Italian family in their state-of-the-art factory near the Italian Lakes. They have total control “from bean to bar “ – farming the cocoa, harvesting the beans, making the chocolate and forming the bars. Their cocoa beans are grown organically in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Peru – all areas known for high quality cocoa. The result is superb bean quality and a truly sustainable brand, and I certainly enjoyed my bars of chocolate, which are a handy size (35g), just right to pop into my handbag.
Autumn Pumpkins
I love the seasonal garden – the stark bare branches of trees in the winter, the primroses on grassy banks in spring, cabbage roses nodding in the warm breeze during summer, and of course the autumn garden, almost contemporary in design with piles of brightly coloured leaves punctuating the borders and purple Michaelmas daisies dancing along edges of flagstone paths……whilst perusing the web the other night, I happened upon a lovely garden design site, Floral & Hardy garden designers; their designs echo the seasons; and I love how they describe a beautiful garden as literally ‘the room outside’; a place where you can relax and enjoy the changing seasons and a place that reflects your own personality. British gardens also supply us with so many wonderful seasonal fruit and veg………in season in British gardens right now are:
Beetroot
Carrot
Celeriac
Fennel
Field – Mushrooms
Kale
Leeks
Lettuce
Marrow
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Rocket
Sorrel
Squashes
Sweetcorn
Tomatoes
Watercress
Apples
Blackberries
Damsons
Elderberries
Pears
Plums
Quince
Sloes
It’s the seasonal pumpkin that I am in love with right now, that most iconic of autumn veg – carved for Halloween, roasted for soups and stews, puréed and put into pies for Thanksgiving across the pond and made into jam and chutney too….its cheery orange presence makes an autumn garden so jolly and gay, whilst providing endless meals throughout the season, as well as spook-tacular (sorry!) candlelit displays. Its earthy flavour is amazing with beef and other robust red meats, and by adding it into my chilli recipe, you are also increasing your five-a-day intake too. It’s also very handy that Nazima and Laura’s One Ingredient challenge this month is Pumpkin, as is the We Should Cocoa challenge too, hosted by Choclette and The Hungry Hinny……..so, it’s pumpkins all the way with organic October chocolate, perfect!
Bonfire Chilli with Beef, Chocolate and Pumpkin
I hope you enjoy this recipe if you make it, it’s a perfect family meal for this time of year, and, you can adjust the chilli seasoning to suit. I have made it twice now and the second time I made it in my slow cooker (Crock Pot) and it was wonderful – I cooked it on high for 4 hours and then turned it down to low for a further 4 hours……result – meltingly tender and rich chilli with discernible pieces of pumpkin. I served it with plain boiled rice, but, American style with grated cheese, sour cream and crackers or tortilla chips would be perfect for a large gathering. I have called this chilli recipe Bonfire Chilli, as this is JUST the kind of meal that can be made for Bonfire night, (or Halloween)and it will stay warm for hours in a slow cooker (crock pot) ……that’s all for now, have a great day, see you soon, Karen.
Bonfire Chilli with Beef, Chocolate and Pumpkin
Bonfire Chilli with Beef, Chocolate and Pumpkin
Print recipe
| Serves | 6 |
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 3 hours, 15 minutes |
| Total time | 3 hours, 30 minutes |
| Meal type | Lunch, Main Dish |
| Misc | Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Casual Party, Christmas, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving |
| Region | Mexican |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
Ingredients
- 700g beef (such as braising, stewing or shin)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions (peeled and diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1/2 small pumpkin (peeled and diced into small cubes)
- 1/2 fresh red chilli (de seeded and finely diced)
- 2 tspns ground cumin
- 1 tspn ground coriander
- 1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
- 1 tspn dried oregano
- 1 tspn chilli powder (I used Chipotle chilli powder)
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 x 400g tinned red kidney beans (drained)
- 2 x 35g bars of Go-Do organic dark chocolate, broken into small pieces (or chocolate of your choice minimum 60% cocoa solids)
- salt and pepper to taste
- a little water
Note
A rich chilli made with pieces of beef rather than minced beef and with an added autumnal ingredient, pumpkins! Chocolate is also added to this beefy chilli, for an authentic Mexican taste - it enhances the depth of flavour in this comforting dish, and adds a silky richness. (I used organic Go-Do chocolate) Serve this with plain boiled rice, or in bowls with grated cheese and sour cream on top, and tortilla chips for dipping!
Directions
| Step 1 | Preheat the oven to 150C/300F. |
| Step 2 | Heat the oil in a suitably sized casserole dish or Dutch oven - I used a Le Creuset casserole dish. Then fry the onion, garlic, chopped pumpkin and fresh chilli gently without colouring for 5 minutes. |
| Step 3 | Add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, oregano and dried chillies and stir in. |
| Step 4 | Add the diced beef to the onion mixture and pumpkin mixture, and mix gently before stirring in the tomato purée, ketchup, drained kidney beans and tomatoes. |
| Step 5 | Give it all a stir and bring the chilli to a simmer. Add the pieces of chocolate and stir in, put on the lid and transfer to the oven, cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until the beef is tender, stirring occasionally. (If it becomes too dry, add a little water to the chilli.) |
| Step 6 | Season to taste with salt and pepper, and adjust the chilli heat if needed, before serving with boiled rice or with grated cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream. |
Bonfire Chilli with Beef, Chocolate and Pumpkin
I am also entering this into Simple and in Season, as it is a VERY seasonal recipe – hosted by Ren and this month, guest hosted by Nazima
Leslie M. Ficcaglia says
This chili looks delicious! I may be making it for tomorrow. Thanks!
Karen says
Thanks Leslie, the pumpkin was a super ingredient to add and the chocolate makes it very rich!
Leslie M. Ficcaglia says
Made it yesterday. I confess I added more beans because we really like them, and I used deer meat instead of beef. But it was delicious, and very satisfying for a post-Sandy-storm meal on a chilly fall day. The flavors were quite robust. Thanks again for posting this!
Karen says
BRILLIANT! Thanks for the feedback Leslie and I am happy to hear that you made it through super storm Sandy too….venison would have been a GREAT meat to use, as it tends to be dry, so long slow cooking is the way to go!
Laura@howtocookgoodfood says
So perfect, a chocolate and beef chilli slow cooked for a lovely rich flavour. I always go to my favourite butcher for my shin of beef or chuck steak which melts into a casserole or stew so well. Your chilli with the addition of my favourite pumpkin would make such a good Bonfire night supper.
Thanks for entering One Ingredient! I love your pot too!
Karen says
Thanks Laura, I do love beef with pumpkin, I sometimes add it to beef stews and casseroles…..but with dark chocolate, it was divine! Karen
Janice says
Perfect chilli and I knew as soon as I read the title that it was destined for WSC!
Kathryn says
Oh this sounds so delicious Karen, I love the depth of flavour from the chocolate and the pumpkin!
Karen says
Thanks Kathryn, the chocolate and pumpkin were both tasty additions! Karen
The Food Sage says
This looks and sounds amazing … and even though we’re heading into summer in Sydney, i’ve printed it off with the full intention of making a batch this weekend. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing.
Karen says
I think that chilli is good any time if year, and you can lighten it up a bit with sour cream maybe! Karen
The Food Sage says
I made it at the weekend – awesome. Leftovers in the freezer for those comfort-food days and when the Sydney temperature drops a notch! Excellent recipe. Love the mellowness of the chocolate and the mushiness from the pumpkin. Big fan!
Dom says
Simply stunning! A rich chilli sauce with the added delights of chocolate. Quite quite heavenly! Looks so creamy too. Perfection now that the chill has settled in! Lovely with mash potatoes too!
Karen says
Thanks so much Dom! It was rich and creamy-like, the pumpkins added a lot of “ooomph” the texture of it too.
Jen says
I love the sound of your chilli with pumpkin and I also love how you’ve cooked it in an orange casserole pot, so colour coordinated 🙂 I always add a little cocoa powder to my chilli along with all the other spices and it definitely adds an extra depth of flavour to one of our favourite dishes. I’m inspired to give this a go as it will be perfect now the evenings have gone cold again.
Karen says
Thanks Jen, as you say a little cocoa added to chilli makes such a difference, and the pumpkin adds a nice veggie extra! I love my Le Creuset pots and I collect the old fashioned orange ones! Karen
anke says
Hi, thanks so much for this recipie, pot is simmering on the stove(my oven is too small).
Can´t wait to eat it, congrats on this blog, I will follow your stories from now on, I love cooking. Check out my blog if you like, it´s about cosmetics and in spanish and we try to show all the evil ingredients in cosmetics(and the god ones in natural cosmetics). http://manualdecosmetica.blogspot.com.es/
Anke
Karen says
Thanks so much Anke,lovely to meet you and I am so pleased that this recipe took your fancy! I will pop over to see your blog, even though my school Spanish is a little rusty! Karen
Choclette says
Karen, I want to come and share your Autumn. It sounds so wonderful and just how a good autumn ought to be. Your chilli looks really rich and delicious and would be perfect for bonfire night and even better having used some of your organic chocolate stash. I’ve not come across that one before, something that needs to be remedied.
Choclette says
Meant to say thanks for joining in with WSC too 🙂
Vivien Lloyd says
Mr Lloyd made this fab recipe yesterday. Very tender meat and great combo of flavours.
Chilli and chocolate work so well together.
Karen says
Thanks so much for the feedback Vivien! Which one of Mr.Lloyd’s fabulous home-grown chillies did he use in this recipe by the way?
Vivien Lloyd says
Aji Orange including the seeds.
Karen says
Oh Lovely, so orange chillies and orange pumpkin!
bakingaddict says
Karen you are a genius!! I remember you tweeting about this recipe but I completely forgot to come and get the actual recipe. Saw it on the WSC round up. I love chilli and this sounds delicious with chocolate and pumpkin. Must give it a try myself.
Karen says
Just saw this comment now! Sorry for the late reply! The recipe is really lush! Karen
Franglais kitchen says
Goodness what a wonderful recipe. Chocolate in chilli works well but adding the pumpkin must give it a lovely depth of flavour. I love slow cooked meat and I do love using my le creuset pot too. I shall be trying it out at the weekend.
Karen says
Thanks Nazima, this recipe works I’m either a slow cooker of a Le Creuset, the choice is yours! Karen
Fiona Matters says
I love the idea of adding chocolate to a chilli. I think it will be lovely and am all keen to try it. I also have some really cheap beef cuts that need using up – so this sounds like a great idea. Obviously have to change the pumpkin but other than that sounds ideal.
Paul Wilson says
Not tried chilli with chocolate, must give it a go.
David says
Made this tonight. Definitely the best chilli I’ve ever cooked. Thanks Karen.
Michele Collett says
I made this on a blustery cold day and it was delicious. We all loved it and had seconds.
Karen Burns-Booth says
SO pleased you enjoyed it Michelle! Thanks for letting me know!
Mia in Germany says
Excellent chocolate chili!! I followed the recipe to the letter, using 75% organic chocolate. My picky MIL gobbled up a huge portion, stopping only to exclaim how good this was (usually she eats half a tiny portion and then complains that it’s too much for her). Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Made for Culinary Quest 2015 / Tex-Mex
Karen Burns-Booth says
THANKS so much Mia, I am so pleased you all enjoyed my recipe too! Karen