Eating a big bowl of this reminds me of my childhood.

This is another one of those great meals my mum churned out on a regular basis and I am so glad that my family embrace it today too, except for one child who picks out the kidney beans….!

This is a slow cooker version of what my mum made. Anything I can make in the morning to get dinner done and dusted is always a winner in my books.

We grew up eating Chilli Con Carne with freshly baked cornbread. Some of us ate it on the side, others broke up the bread into chunks and mixed it through. Either way, it’s a delicious combination.

The original recipe was from the Women’s Weekly Slow Cooking cookbook, but I have made some small changes. If it was just my husband and I eating this, I would probably double the amount of chilli in the recipe. However, to keep this kid friendly, the amount below gives just enough heat to make it yummy, but still edible by small and sensitive taste buds.

Slow Cooker Chilli Con Carne

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1kg beef mince

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes

1/2 cup tomato paste

2 teaspoons vegemite

2 x 420gm cans of crushed or diced tomatoes

1 x 750gm can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

chopped fresh coriander and sour cream to serve

Method

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan.

Add onion and garlic and cook until softened.

Add beef mince, cumin and chilli and cook, breaking up any clumps, until browned.

Transfer beef mixture to a slow cooker and add all other ingredients.

Fill 1 empty tomato tin with water and add it to the slow cooker.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high.

For the last 30 minutes of cooking time, take the lid off and let the sauce thicken a little.

Serve with coriander and sour cream, with steamed rice or cornbread.

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Potato Cornbread

This Sweet Potato cornbread is from Stephanie Alexanders ‘The Cook’s Companion’. One of my ‘go to’ books for food, it was gifted to me on my 21st birthday by two gorgeous food-loving friends and I have been so thankful for it over the many years since.

The sweet potato keeps this bread sweet and moist and unlike most corn bread recipes with 1-2 cups of sugar in them, this recipe uses only 1/4 cup brown sugar.

Ingredients

2 medium size sweet potato (approx 900gm), peeled, chopped and steamed, then mashed. You need 2 cups of mashed sweet potato.

125gm unsalted butter

4 eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup plain greek or natural yoguhrt

2 cups fine polenta (cornmeal)

Method

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.

Combine all ingredients, except yoghurt and polenta, in a food processor and mix until smooth and combined.

Stir through yoghurt and polenta.

Pour into a greased 20cm square cake tin.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Cool a little before cutting into squares.

These squares freeze really well too.