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Heston's Rich chilli con carne with spiced butter Zoomer icon

Heston's Rich chilli con carne with spiced butter

Heston's Rich chilli con carne with spiced butter

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Heston's Rich chilli con carne with spiced butter

''Adding the spiced butter to the chilli just before you serve it will make it rich and unctuous. If you like it a bit hotter, add a little more butter at the table when you add the grated cheese and sour cream. The lime juice and zest will finish it off with acidity and freshness.'' Heston

Serves:
 4

Ingredients

  • For the chilli:
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 450g Aberdeen Angus minced beef (10% fat)
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 whole star anise
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 green chilli, deseeded and diced
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • Half a bottle red wine (37.5cl)
  • 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 400g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 230g jar Fragata Pimiento Piquillo peppers, drained and roughly chopped
  • For the spiced butter:
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1½ tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp tomato ketchup
  • ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ tsp Marmite
  • 125g butter, softened to room temperature
  • To serve:
  • 100g soured cream
  • 60g Cheddar cheese, grated
  • Grated zest and juice of 3 limes

Method

  1. Start by making the spiced butter. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the cumin and chilli powder for approximately 1½ minutes. Pour into a bowl and add the rest of the spiced butter ingredients; mix together and once cool, place in the fridge until needed.
  2. Add 3 tbsp olive oil to a large sauce pan and heat over a high heat until smoking hot. Add the mince, in batches if necessary, and cook until evenly browned. Remove and drain the meat. Add a little water to the same pan to deglaze it and tip the water and bits in with the drained meat so none of the flavour is lost.
  3. Turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining olive oil. Add the onions and star anise and cook until the onions begin to colour, then add the garlic and green chilli and cook for another 5 minutes.
  4. Add the tomato purée, stir and cook for another 5 minutesuntil everything turns a brick red colour. Add the brownedmince and juices, pour in the red wine and allow to reduceby two-thirds. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmerover a low heat for at least 1 hour or until it has reducedto a thick sauce consistency.
  5. Fold the beans and chopped red peppers into the chilli and simmer until they are heated through. Stir in 2½ tbsp of the spiced butter for mild-medium heat (or more if you like it hotter). Remove the star anise. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and serve with rice.

    6. Heston recommends:Put the remaining spiced butter, the lime zest and juiceinto three separate bowls on the table alongside thecheese and soured cream, so everyone can add theirown seasonings to their portion of chilli.

    Copyright © Heston Blumenthal 2010

Comments and images

Average user rating 4 stars out of 5

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JTDD

JTDD 08 October 2011 10:17

I made this when it was first shown at Waitrose and it is a little time consuming but well worth it---It tastes heavenly and for a bloke who is not very good in the kitchen, to make it and be complimented---That is reward itself--I love this and other Heston recipes

fulham81

fulham81 18 August 2011 11:23

I LOVE this recipe!!! I have to say it IS time consuming but well worth it! I have made it a couple of times and each time people have commented that it is the best chilli con carne they have ever tasted. I have to say that I, and others seem to not like the spiced butter, maybe a personal preference. If you have time and want to make something very tasty.... I suggest this recipe. Well done Heston!!

nmb353
I tried the original recipe which wasn't hot enough, then I changed it by frying all of the spices with a little butter after the the onions and before the mince and it was perfect!

nmb353 19 April 2011 12:08

I tried the original recipe which wasn't hot enough, then I changed it by frying all of the spices with a little butter after the the onions and before the mince and it was perfect!

mrs lentils

mrs lentils 24 February 2011 09:20

Fantastic -best chilli ever and the spiced butter is to die for. Yum.

top conker

top conker 27 January 2011 16:26

OK recipe, but nothing to write home about. For those that are waxing lyrical saying this is the best ever chilli they've tasted, then they've really have not tasted a good chilli. Have to say, heston's recipes are over complicated for very little return. If you need a good chilli recipe, try Sam's on Delia's forum. TC

Jinga

Jinga 22 January 2011 15:05

I wasn't sure to start with - it looked a bit "thin" and didn't taste of all that much after most of the cooking time. I added a bit of chilli (powder) and let it cook for even longer.. eventually I had what was an extremely tasty, though very unhot, chilli. The spiced butter was magic though, and really turned the dish up when we came to serve and eat. The advantage of the unhot chilli is that my young children devoured it (without the spiced butter) the next day with Jackets... Didn't find it particularly difficult or a hassle to make. Four out of five. Only dropping a star because the recipe wasn't "perfect", it needed some help! But very very tasty indeed in the end.

Fid

Fid 01 December 2010 23:55

We really enjoyed this. We made the full amount and now have the chilli with a suitable amount of that plus a chunk of the butter mix in the freezer. We found the butter to be really hot, so the mix was great with the lime and sour cream - I could do without the cheese tbh. The star anise are still in there somewhere...

lemonsqueezer123

lemonsqueezer123 19 November 2010 10:01

I didn't really find this a hassle to make, yeah it takes a bit of extra stirring at the start but then you just leave it to do it's thing. The tomato base is lovely and would also make a great base for spag bol (less the chilli). I was a bit dissapointed at the end with the flavour, as it wasn't really chilli. You have to add A LOT of the spiced butter to get a real kick, or to get any of the cumin & coriander flavour, which then makes it quite unhealthy, and something you wouldn't want to eat too often. I would make this again, but I would add some cumin, coriander and extra chilli to the meat sauce as well. All the little extras that you serve with it make it a great crowd pleaser for both young and old and so makes it perfect if you have friends or family over.

DJ poppit

DJ poppit 15 November 2010 14:23

After reading the past comments, most referred to the heat of the dish, i added an extra chilli. without adding the sour cream, butter etc i was bit dubious that the family would like it . placed in front of them added the extras and all were very impressed well worth the effort and will be a favorite in our house on these dark cold nights. keep em coming.

jackie bircham

jackie bircham 11 November 2010 11:00

Delia's chilli recipe that they serve in Yellows is sublime - much better than this.

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4 stars out of 5

Average user rating Based on 703 ratings

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Nutritional Info

Typical values per serving:
Energy 748.0kcal
Sugars 25.1g
Fat 44.7g
Saturated Fat 14.3g
Salt 1.1g

per serving with 2½ tbsp spiced butter

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This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in November 2010