Chili con carne with beef chunks

The king of tex-mex! Actually, it is also the official dish of the US state - Texas. Did you know that? Because I didn't. Oh, the things you get to know when you want to write and interesting introduction to one of your posts. Anyways...

I am a huge fan of comfort food. Proper food cooked for hours and which are full of l o v e! My mom used to make some sort of chicken chili con carne, but sometimes chicken is not the way to go in my opinion nor did I want to make the version with minced meat, therefore I went through several recipes with beef chunks and in the end combined some of them and improvised.  So if you feel like cooking for hours and enjoy an explosion of flavors - then do make this chili con carne!

Chili con carne (Approx 4 portions)
700gr of beef / for example brisket
400gr chopped tomatoes
100gr tomatpure
1 can (400gr) blacks beans
1/2 can of sweet corn
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
beef broth
handful of fresh coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground garlic
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 fresh chilli
salt/pepper
1 cinnamon stick (ground can also be used)
small piece of dark chocolate

When serving:
a little bit of fresh coriander
sour cream
lime wedge

1. Dice the onion and garlic. Afterwards clean the meat and cut it into chunks (cca 3 cms). Prepare your spices and tomatoes, because now it will go quick.
2. Drizzle some olive oil and heat the onion and garlic in a larger pot. After the onion has caught some color add the ground spices, let them heat a little bit so you make the taste stronger.
3. Add the meat and brown it quickly on the spices, pour the chopped tomatoes and tomatpure.
4. Now its time to add the cinnamon stick, which you will first take out right before serving. Also add the fresh chilli and coriander which are roughly chopped.
5. Lower the heat, so the mix bubbles a little bit - but not too much! Pour a little of beef broth in it and be sure to watch it throughout cooking, because you might have to add broth little after little - all of the meat must be covered by liquids. Cook for approximately 2,5 - 3 hours.
6. After those 2,5-3 hours add the sweet corn, black beans and the small piece of dark chocolate. Let it simmer for 30 minutes more - check if the meat is tender and almost falling apart. That's how you know its done. Also of course season with salt/pepper according to your liking. Sometimes it happens that I have to add a little of the dried spices as well before serving, it is all about tasting yourself to the right amount of flavor.

Serve with chopped fresh coriander, sour cream or a little bit of lime juice. As a side dish you can either go classic with rice or just torillas - maybe even make a simple quesadilla, which I very much recommend.

Enjoy!