the table is set, the oven is hot

I made an outstanding Chilli Beef Soup yesterday.... so outstanding I'm going to share the recipe with you lot.

You will need:

250g minced beef (I mince a steak - leaner and tastier)
A large onion, roughly chopped
A red pepper, roughly diced
A dash of olive oil
A chopped red chilli (seeds included)
A heaped teaspoon of ground cumin
A heaped teaspoon of paprika
2 cloves of garlic - chopped finely / crushed
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
750ml of chicken stock
3 tablespoons of tomato puree
A tin of chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves
A tin of kidney beans
The juice of a lime

Here's what you do:

1. fry off the mince, onion, red pepper, cumin, paprika, garlic & cayenne pepper in the olive oil for about 15 mins

2. Blend the tomatoes with half of the tin of kidney beans

3. Add balsamic vinegar to the mince mix and cook for another minute

4. Add the chicken stock, the tomato / kidney bean mix, the tomato puree and the bay leaves and simmer for 45 minutes

5. Finish off with the rest of the kidney beans and the juice of the lime. Fish out the bay leaves and serve with soft tortillas and soured cream

I found this recipe on the side of my sandwich packet at Pret A Manger a few months ago, and ripped it out for future reference. It's lived on the fridge door ever since, but yesterday I finally got around to cooking it. You know what? It's delicious - the lime juice really lifts it up and makes the whole thing mmmmmmmmm lip-smacking good!

Worth a try, I reckon.

Just call me Delia from now on.

bork! bork! bork!