Easy Chile Con Carne

Cook Time 3.5 hours or longer if you can

Ingredients

400g Pork mince

400g Beef or Lamb, cut into chunks

3 onions (chopped)

1 Bell pepper (diced)

4 cloves of Garlic (chopped)

2 tsp of ground cumin

2 tsp of allspice

1 tsp cloves

1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp of ground cinnamon

3 bay leaves

2 tbls of chopped fresh oregano or 2 tsp of dried oregano or Mexican Oregano if you can

4 dried chillies (Ancho, pasilla, guajillo) any/all/mixed are good just take out the seeds. These chillies will add authenticity, lots of flavour, but not too much heat.

2 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

3 tbls cider vinegar or balsamic (or a mix)

2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes

2 tbls ketchup

2 tbls dark brown sugar

2 x 400g tins of beans (drained) go for what you like. I went butter bean and haricot.

Method

Cook the meat chinks until browned then remove

Cook the mince in a caserole dish/sauce pan/dutch oven until brown.

Add the onions, garlic, and bell pepper stir for a few minutes

Add the herbs, spices, salt, and pepper stir for a few minutes

Add the vinegar, tomatoes, ketchup, and sugar.

Add a mug of water/red wine as needed to keep it loose

Add the meat chucnks back

Add the Bay leaves and chillies

Simmer for as long as you can 3h or more stirring ocasionally

It should just simmer away on a gentle heat bubbling gently.

The longer you leave it the better it will be and the meat chinks will break apart.

For a bit more depth of flavour add some dark (70%+) dark chocolate 1-2 squares.