This week our Junior Chefs will be making – Chilli Con Carne with Chocolate after all it is nearly Easter!

Our dish will be a Tex-Mex’ style chilli recipe with a thick brown sauce – rather than a thin tomato one.  Using dark chocolate in this chilli con carne recipe adds a delicious depth of flavour that enriches the dish.

You may or may not know, but chocolate, coffee and oregano are key original flavours of Tex-Mex cuisine. If you have never added them to a chilli before definitely try it – the flavour is amazing! You’ll never make a chilli without it again and of course chillies!

Chilli is a spice without limits. There are hundreds of varieties, all with different colours and heat levels.  As an ingredient, chillies can be bought in a multitude of forms: fresh or dried, ground or in flakes, smoked or pickled.

Ground chilli powder is more about adding heat than flavour, which makes it hugely versatile.  You can also add chilli powder or chilli flakes to virtually any dish that would benefit from a kick: sprinkle it on pizzas, add it to sauces, use it in stir fries or add to a chocolate cake.

In Mexico, chillies were traditionally smoked to preserve them for use later on in the year.  The smokiness of the paprika in this recipe adds a real depth of flavour to this dish and added ground cumin adds fragrant warmth to, which enhances all of the other ingredients.   For those not using meat the mixed beans still mean it is hearty and robust meal.

Chocolate adds a marvellous depth of flavour to stews and sauces, but a little goes a long way so we do not need to add too much.

Chocolate is one of our most popular ingredients – both to eat and to cook with.   However it is really only thought of as a sweet ingredient, but cocoa was originally used in savoury recipes.

So why does chilli and chocolate work so well?  Why is it one of the ‘wow’ flavour pairings to have made its way around the world?

Is it because chilli peppers contain capsaicin, a chemical which helps release endorphins and stimulates the nerve endings? Chocolate on the other hand stimulates serotonin in the brain, which triggers off heightened sensitivity and a sense of euphoria.  Or is it simply the fattiness of chocolate offsets the heat of chilli as in the traditional Mexican mole (sauce)?

So try it and see I think you will like it!

This week we will be using the following skills: Measuring, peeling, chopping, crushing, boiling/simmering and frying.

See you Saturday Junior Chefs.