A chilli for the chilly nights

Quorn Chilli

Ingredients: A splash of oil, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, a 350g packet of frozen Quorn mince, 1 tin of red kidney beans, 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, ½ a pack of mushrooms, a packet of chilli-con-carne seasoning mix, 2 tablespoons of tomato purée, ½ a mug of tap water, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 or 2 packs of microwave rice (depending on how many people are eating).

Time taken: Half an hour! This recipe takes no time at all.

Good evening readers,

I hope you’re all well tonight!

As I sit and write this it’s a dark, cool September evening in Sheffield. I’m having a cosy Friday night in with Smooth Radio for company. It’s been a lovely day at work! I got to see all of the men in the office in one day (a rare occurrence) and made it to the Rutland for a pub lunch.

We got very excited about a bit of warm autumn sunshine and sat out in the beer garden, and the pub’s chef (a character) came out to pick some flowers from the garden. Shuffled off back inside. Ten minutes later the flowers were back and they were on my plate! I had a very pretty, very floral lunch. And then made it to yoga after work. A lovely Friday.

My floral mushroom tartlet at the pub today

I hope you all have had a great end to the working week, too. And that you’re feeling relaxed and ready for the weekend now! The leaves are falling and the days are bright and crisp, and hopefully we might all get to spend some time outdoors breathing fresh air and embracing autumn this weekend. Jackets on and off and on and off again, no doubt.

So, this week in my blog post, I’m sharing with you a classic recipe that I dug out of my ‘Vegetarian Nosh for Students’ cookbook on Wednesday night. I may not be a student anymore (sad times!) but having volunteered throw a midweek dinner party and cook for five friends, I needed a simple recipe that I could cook a big amount of, all in one pan.

I turned to Veggie Nosh and found an easy-peasy-looking recipe for Quorn Chilli… and it went really well! With just a little help from friends stirring and serving, I pulled it off and even though I was in a sort of dazed hosting mode on the night, I do remember that there were lots of positive comments about the food. And Quorn mince in general. Everyone seemed to leave very full and very happy! And so I will definitely cook up this chilli again in the future. A resounding success… phew!

Want to wow your friends with a great veggie chilli? Follow these ten straightforward steps…

1.     Chop your onion, slice your mushrooms and finely slice your clove of garlic.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: If they aren’t ring pull, I’d open your tins now to be on the safe side. You never know when you might get an awkward tin that just won’t open.

2.     Heat a generous splash of oil in a wok or in a big frying pan.

3.     Add your onion and garlic to the pan, and sizzle until your onion is going soft.

4.     Make sure your hob is on full heat and add all the rest of the ingredients to the pan.

5.     Keep everything moving about in the pan until the chilli seems to be boiling.

6.     Turn the hob down to a lower heat and leave your chilli to simmer for at least ten minutes, prodding occasionally to stop it from sticking to the pan.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: You only really need ten minutes to thicken the chilli, but if you’re not quite ready to eat or if some disaster strikes during those precious ten minutes, there’s no harm in leaving the chilli to simmer for longer.

7.     When you’re ready to eat, place your plates and your microwaveable rice sachets in the microwave. Heat for a few minutes until your rice is steaming.

8.     Use an oven mitt to take everything out of the microwave. Spoon the rice onto your heated plates and then ladle out your chilli.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: This recipe makes enough chilli for 4 decent portions. If you’re feeding 4 then this is perfect! If not, then spoon portion-sized amounts of any leftover chilli into Tupperware. Leave to cool and either chill in the fridge (to eat in the next few days) or freeze for a while longer. When you’re ready to eat your chilli (first, thaw it if you froze your chilli, and then) just pop it in the microwave on full heat for about 5 minutes.

9.     Serve your chilli as it is… and voila! Or you can add cheese or potato wedges or some crusty garlic bread, if you’re in the mood for a proper Mexican feast.

10.  If you’re REALLY in the Mexican spirit, maybe try tossing some real chilies into the pan while cooking, and serve your meal with a shot of tequila! Just don’t start on the tequila until your food is ready. Safety first.

My plateful of chilli ready to be tucked in to

I hope it goes well! And remember to have fun in the kitchen! I recommend some Smooth Radio on in the background for guaranteed feel good factor while you’re cheffing.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and stroll safely,

Hayley

Ps. This week I’ve gone crazy for the Scandinavian concept of hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) … have you heard about it?? Hygge it would seem is a really sweet Danish word that we don’t have a word for in English. It kind of means cosiness and happiness and contentedness all in one go. Isn’t that a wonderful idea? I read about hygge in a magazine a week or so ago and then discovered the hygge hashtag on Instagram. It’s a cracking hashtag! People use hygge when they’re sharing photos of their homes, friends and family, pets and nature, food and drink, socks and jumpers, sun rises and sun sets. All the best things basically. Here’s a selection of some of my favourite hygge photos from this last week on Instagram, for you to enjoy...

@123wenche

@hidsigproppen

@pantherrrrr

@die_lilo

@kit_borne

@camilla.lr

@n_rasmussen_

@fenglidk

@hygge_and_me

@cleanielsen

@koelsterstolvhaner

@simonewils

@mahlerandkin

@lisbethgejl

@antoniaillustrates

@mama_j

@nannastad

@melissaaacain

@thekeatonhomestead

@themessymama

@auta_miqula_orqu

@mini_beske

@amylizabethw

@by_sachse

@winosostergaard

@mrbreinholt

@loppebaren

@louisealkj

@kreajanne

@flo_imogen

@spiserietnaestved

@badgertails

@olivia.lindegaard

@bellisabeth

@fadrysdale

@emslf

ChefBeHere Phase Two!

Hello there,

I started the ChefBeHere blog during my third and final year of university study in 2014/15.

For me, the blog was really good because:

o   I had the time to be creative and post regularly,

o   the project gave me something to do other than ‘work’ i.e. my dissertation and essays and revision for exams,

o   and the project was something fun throughout a really stressful time of my life.

Then uni finished. And I travelled for three months through mainland Europe. Then I moved in with my dad in Sheffield and got an adult job, booking hotels for travelling workers and businessmen. One boy came in and out of my life. In Spring 2016, I got to move out of home again and quit the shitty job. Another boy came and went.

Now, I’m living in a cool area of Sheffield that I’d literally never been to before, called Heeley. I live with a paralegal, who I shall codename CoolyColey, and a PHD student, to be known as KorfKing. We have a cute house on a lovely new road. I work as a Problem Solver at a creative agency, and enjoy my job. I can walk in and out of town. There is no boy drama.

And it seems like a new phase of my life when the blog could be really good! For all the same reasons as last time, I’d really like to have another go at ChefBeHere. And so here I am. I’m going to be revisiting recipes that I posted in the past, during ChefBeHere Phase One, and roll out a whole load of new ones.

To anyone who used to read my blog, thanks for coming back! For Phase Two, I’ll probably carry on throwing out thoughts about life, along with my recipes, and will continue my mission to convert you all to yoga and vegetarianism... you know you want to. And, for anyone new to the blog, I hope there are fun times to come.

Keep checking the blog and we shall see!

Have a great weekend,

Hayley

Ps. To kickstart the ChefBeHere comeback I’ve been baking some classic Oat Crunchies. The house smells so cakey and lush! To bake some Oat Crunchies yourself, check out the recipe here. I promise they taste even better than they look.

Look at these beautiful Oat Crunchies!

What a way to start the weekend...