Wonderful world of mince continued...

Tonight I already have the main part of my chilli con carne ready to go. Not much pressure now! I can sit down, have a cup of tea, call my mother, call my sister etc, etc. I have saved myself at least an hour when you consider the time it takes to gather ingredients, chop, cook, and wash up.

Since I have a bit of time on my hands I'm going to whip up a little extra something to make dinner a bit more fun than just rice and a one pot wonder.

So I'm making an olive bread, and guacamole to go with.

Olive and Rosemary Bread

1/2 tsp sugar (White, raw, brown, caster, whatever's in the cupboard) I like raw, keeps it natural!

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups flour

1/2 sachet yeast

7-10 pitted green olives chopped coarsley

a small stick of rosemary leaves chopped coarsely (discard the stick!)

Preheat oven to a moderate-hot 220C.

Dissolve sugar into water and add yeast. Cover for 10 minutes or until frothy.

Sift your flour into a large bowl. Add olives and rosemary, and mix well. Pour in the yeast mix and a drizzle of olive oil. Knead in the bowl until smooth. Cover and set aside to rise.

While that's rising I'm going to make some guacamole but here's the rest of the recipe so to avoid confusion:

Roll out onto a flat oven tray lined with baking paper.

Now, before I go any further, I just wanted to say how handy flat trays are. No need roll out onto a floured bench space, then carefully transfer onto a tray, and deal with flour to clean up. You just roll your dough onto a flat tray and bung it in the oven! If you don't have one, it might be worth checking them out. 

I'll do anything to minimise mess. And as you can tell I hate it when flour goes everywhere. Containment is the key!

Anyway, back to the dough.

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cut into wedges and serve!

Guacamole

1 Avocado

Juice of 1/4 of a lemon

1 tsp sweet chilli sauce

Peel avocado, discard the pip. Then put it all into a bowl, and mash it up with a fork, or use a processor. Your choice. I can't be bothered with the food processor bowl tonight so forks it is!

That's done in less than 5 minutes.

After I've done that my bread will have risen enough start getting it into the oven. (I've used my brother's philosophy here)

Next is the main part.

Chilli Con Carne continued...

This made enough for about 4 people

Basically, my chilli con carne is done. It's been steeping in the fridge taking in all the spices overnight, so the flavour will be at its best. All that's left to do is mix a few more ingredients in and warm it through.

To finish it off you will need the following:

1 tsp tomato paste

200g sweet potato chopped into 1 cm chunks

400g can of kidney beans

Pour stored chilli con carne sauce into a pan and heat on medium.

Add tomato paste and mix until combined with the sauce.

Then add sweet potato and kidney beans including the brine for a richer flavour.

Bring to the boil then simmer until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, get rice on the go. 

You know the drill: 1 cup rice : 2 cups boiling water for absorption method.

Bring in a pot bring water to the boil on high and add rice. Boil on high for 5 mins. Stir, then cover on low for 5 mins, turn off the heat and keep covered for 5 mins.

By then your bread should be ready, and your chilli con carne warmed through. 

Serve it up! You're a hero in half the time!