Anticucho

Posting this here so that I don't have to bother David every time I want to make Anticucho sauce:

Red Anticucho Sauce

1. 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (crushed to powder)
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons grated garlic
5. 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
6. 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon aji panca paste
7. 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
8. 1 tablespoon sake
9. 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

Combine in the order listed

Yellow Anticucho Sauce

1. 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon aji amarilllo paste
2. 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3. 2 teaspoons soy sauce
4. 1 teaspoons lemon juice
5. 1 teaspoons yuzu juice
6. 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

Combine in the order listed

Chilli Con Carne

My CCC never tastes the same twice in a row mainly because I never use a recipe. Rather every time I want to make an CCC I start reading recipes. The final result depends very much on where I get my inspiration. Sometimes I will read Heston’s CCC recipe from in search of perfection and be inspired to make something unbelievably complicated or I’ll go with Jamie Oliver’s very simple chili.

I made a particularly good CCC today so I’ve decided to post it here as a reminder and so that poor Jules can be confident that her food tastes as expected.

Ingredients:

1. 1 tsp crushed dried chili;
2. 2 tsp crushed cumin seeds;
3. 1 tsp oregano (ideally wild);
4. 2 tsp smoked paprika;
5. 2 star anise;
6. 500 gr minced meat ideally not the low fat version;
7. 1 large carrot chopped fine;
8. 1 stalk celery chopped fine;
9. 2 large onions chopped fine;
10.  4 cloves garlic roughly chopped;
11.  2 finely chopped jalapeno peppers;
12.  2 red peppers cut into 1 cm thick strips;
13. 1 liter beef stock;
14.  A double espresso;
15. 2 400 gr tins chopped tomatoes;
16.  400 gr kidney beans;
17.  S&P;

Preparation:

1. Dry roast ingredients 1 -4;
2. Brown the meat in a very hot pan;
3. Soften the onion & celery in the same pan;
4. Add carrot and red pepper and let soften a bit;
5. Add all the spices, garlic and jalapeno let fry for a minute or so;
6. Add the beef and tomato, blend thoroughly;
7. Add the espresso and stir it in;
8. Add the stock, season to taste;
9.  Let simmer for up to 2 hours;
10. Add beans and let simmer until beans are ready.
11. Serve with Crème fraise and grated cheese.

Additional ideas:

1.  Chives;
2.  Couple of squares of bitter 70% chocolate;
3. Add the red pepper when there is ½ hour left of the cooking time so that they retain some texture;
4. Chilli Mix (replaces the dry chilli and Jalapeno above):
1. Chipotle Morita - 3/5 hot, a smoke-dried jalapeño; 
2. Habaneros - 5/5 hot, this is the source of the spicy background heat; 
3. Guajillo - 2/5 hot, slightly sweet out in front taste;
4. Mulato - 1/5, chocolaty, licoricy taste;
5. Ancho (poblano) Chilli - 1/5, Similar to Mulato not sure I really need both;
6. Cascabel - 2/5, toasty, nutty flavour.