Saturday Supper - Beef and Pepper Chilli

This recipe has become one of our favourites - perfect for a Winter supper:

Serves 6 - WHAT?! No way, I only just spotted that on the recipe :) I'd say it's very filling for 2 people with good appetites (and/or a two-legged mouse) and probably OK for 4 people with a dessert to follow if you're being posh. Certainly a great dish for having friends round if you do all the chopping etc. in advance.

2 x 15ml spoons olive oil
1 x onion, finely chopped
1 x red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
20g pack coriander, stalks roughly chopped and leaves reserved
15ml spoon Cool Chile Company mole powder (optional - I didn't use this)
Approx 500g good quality frying beef, or less, cut into strips
1 x 400g can tomato soup
1 x 400g can mixed beans - in water not salad dressing (the slightly smaller size will do fine)
(NB. If you can find 'tomato soup with three types of beans' in then just use two of those - Sainsburys used to sell them but I couldn't find any so I improvised with one can of soup and one of mixed beans)
2 x plum tomatoes, each cut into quarters
150g nacho cheese tortilla chips
25g Mexican-style cheese, freshly grated

To serve:
130g tub fresh guacamole
142ml pot soured cream
60g bag herb salad or whatever salad mix you fancy

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Remove and put to one side on a plate.

Place the coriander stalks, mole powder and the beef into the same pan and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the soup and the drained beans and heat through for 5 minutes. Return the onion and peppers to the pan, then add the tomatoes and coriander leaves and combine.

Preheat the grill to a moderate heat.

Place the chilli into an ovenproof dish. Top with the nacho cheese tortilla chips and scatter with the cheese. Place under the grill and cook until golden brown. Keep an eye on it as those tortilla chips will burn easily.

Serve with the guacamole, soured cream and herb salad.

Things I do: I did buy really good frying beef the first time but the second time I counted out me pennies and bought fillet steak - well worth the extra money! No way can I find the mole powder stuff so that was omitted. Plus, I actually just used good ole grated Cheddar cheese as the deli counter never seems to have Mexican-style cheese which has little bits of chilli in.

The two-legged mouse thought my version was fine, and he's a chilli fiend usually!

Enjoy!

AND, we passed not just 60 but 70 Playground entries already! Remember the Playground is open until 11am tomorrow, UK time, this week - but we achieved 60 plus so, if you wanna little rest, please do have a lie down. WELL DONE! Mwah :)

Di
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