A Day For The Garden And Chilli Con Carne

One of the things I have always loved about living in Sydney is her mild winters. We do get cold days, but not cold like people in Europe or North America experience. We're not out there shovelling snow for instance or scraping ice off the windscreen every morning. But yesterday took the cake! I'm not sure what the temperature ended up at but it was enough to know that I spent the day in a T-shirt with Spring still at least two weeks away. I love our little local market which is held in the grounds of our local primary school once a month. You can find anything there from locally grown fresh produce to wonderful collectible items and vintage clothing. The school P&C runs a barbecue all day right next to a great coffee cart. Yesterday I came away with a box full of tube stock native plants and spent the afternoon finding spots for them in the garden. I can't wait for my new baby Banksia to like like the one in the photo!
Dinner is another favourite and one I like to give the kids occasionally as I try to get them more used to spicy foods. This version of Chilli Con Carne uses cubed beef rather than mince steak which I believe is much tastier and probably more authentic as well.

Chilli Con Carne (serves 6)

1kg gravy beef or chuck steak cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
3 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon beef stock powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup water
1 400g tin red kidney beans

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil over the beef and coat meat thoroughly with. Brown beef in batches over high heat in an flame proof casserole. Remove to a bowl while continuing with remainder. Add rest of oil to pot and gently cook onions and garlic until soft and golden. Add spices and oregano and stir, then add tomatoes, beef stock powder, sugar and water. Mix well and scrape the bottom of the pot to incorporate into the gravy. Return the meat to the pot, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for at least an hour or until meat is very tender. Add drained kidney beans to pot cover and cook for a further 30 minutes. Serve with plain boiled rice, green salad and tortillas or cornbread.

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