Recipe: Slow-Cooked Chilli

RECESSION or no recession, Americans eat well. I have divided the last four weeks between Denver, Santa Fe and Los Angeles, and I have eaten far too much, most of it good, some of it wonderful.

A confession: Santa Fe, with its unique south-western cuisine of beans, chillis, tortillas and the rest, is one of my favourite places to eat. Huevos (eggs) rancheros, which we have discussed before, are at their best here, especially at a place called Pasqual�s where I have been known to eat three meals in the same day.

But as we approach food of a Mexican bent, the subject of chilli arises. And chilli is one of the things Americans do best. Also, whether or not it has to do with the recession (and I suspect it has because it is a fine way of making magical dishes with cheap cuts) there is a boom in slow-cooking underway, across the US. And used properly, a slow cooker is a great cooking device.

A tip: ALWAYS seal ingredients before putting them in the slow-cooker � some recipes suggest you simply chuck them all in and press the button: do no such thing. I used a new slow-cooker made by All-Clad which has an insert of sealed aluminium rather than porcelain, which means you can seal everything in your final cooking pot, thus losing none of the flavour. When they arrive here, buy one. I shall. But until then, seal everything in a pot, deglaze, and pour the lot into the slow cooker. Then go fishing. Here is a slow-cooked chilli I made while I was there, and even Americans, who know their chilli, seemed to like it:

Brown and season 2.5kg good mince, probably in three batches, in a pot or in your cooker insert if you have a metal one, draining off excess fat as you go. Remove to a bowl. Sweat 2 large brown onions and a dozen cloves of garlic, minced, for about 3 mins. Add 45g chilli powder, 1tbs ground cumin, 3tsp cayenne and toss for 2 min. Tip in 2 tins diced tomatoes, juices and all, 1/3 cup fine cornmeal and stir. Stir in 2 cups good, sturdy beef stock and combine well. Return beef to pot and stir. Tip this (or return metal insert) into your slow cooker and give it 3 hours on high or 6 on low. Skim off the fat, stir in 2 tins kidney beans and allow to heat through, check seasoning, serve in warm bowls with dollops of sour cream, chopped, fresh red onion and grated cheddar. Serve with corn chips or warm tortillas. God bless America.