Baked potatoes with chili con carne

Today we welcome a new contributor! Carmen, author of the blog Tía Alia , brings us some delicious roasted potatoes with an ideal accompaniment: chili con carne. Thank you very much for the recipe Carmen, let's go for it!

Many years ago I discovered baked potatoes as a main dish and I fell in love with them instantly. It happened during a year as a student in the United Kingdom, where they are known as “jacket potatoes” and are accompanied by all kinds of toppings: cheese, tuna with mayonnaise, bolognese sauce, bacon and sour cream and, of course, chilli con carne. Back then my student finances didn’t allow me to indulge in any excesses, but whenever I could I would go to the pub to enjoy such a succulent morsel.

Years later, roasted potatoes still drive me crazy. I make them often, especially at dinner time, because they are so handy as they don't require any supervision and you can do other things while they roast. As if that weren't easy enough, the task is made even simpler with the Nordic Ware oven or barbecue potato roaster , which speeds up roasting and makes handling the potatoes quick and easy.

I haven't used it on the barbecue but in the oven, but I'll try it when the good weather starts and we give ourselves over to the noble pleasure of grilling. Just thinking about "anything" with roast potatoes as an accompaniment makes me salivate. Bring on the good weather now!

Nordic Ware potato roaster, Zwilling bamboo wood cutting board , Pallarès carbon steel knife , Trilloliva olive oil and Le Creuset ceramic ramekins .

Ingredients (for 4 units)

For the chili con carne:

• 250g minced beef
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper
• 2 tablespoons crushed tomatoes
• 200ml red wine
• 200ml of meat broth
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon of ketchup
• 200gr of cooked beans
• Salt
• Trilloliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the roasted potatoes:

• 4 large potatoes (about 200g each)
• Trilloliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 20gr of butter
• Shredded cheese, jalapenos, sour cream, etc.

B De Buyer mineral cast iron skillet , Zwilling bamboo cutting board , Le Creuset ceramic ramekins and Tokyo Design Studio Star Wave porcelain bowl .

Elaboration

1. Heat a little oil in a frying pan , add the minced meat and season. Cook over high heat, stirring to separate the meat and loosen it. When it is golden brown, remove it to a plate along with the juice it has released.
2. Peel the onion, carrot and garlic cloves. Using a sharp knife , cut all the vegetables into small pieces on a cutting board .
3. Add oil to the pan again and sauté the vegetables, along with the star anise, over a very low heat for about 10 minutes or the time needed for them to become tender and the onion to brown slightly.
4. Finely chop the jalapeño pepper, discarding the seeds and stem, and add it to the pan along with the crushed tomatoes. Increase the heat slightly and sauté for 5 minutes. Remove and discard the star anise.
5. Next, add the red wine and allow it to reduce completely. Then add the meat back to the pan along with the stock, cumin, paprika and ketchup. Cover and cook over a low heat for 1 hour, adding the beans 10 minutes before the end.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the roasted potatoes. Start by turning on the oven to 220ºC with heat from above and below, washing the potatoes well (because we are going to eat them with the skin) and greasing them with extra virgin olive oil.
7. Place the potatoes in the potato roaster , pricking each one into the protrusions that the utensil has for this purpose. Place it in the upper part of the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 190º and roast for a further 45 minutes or until the skin of the potatoes is crispy and the inside is tender.
8. When the potatoes are ready, remove them from the grill and turn them over, leaving the indented part on the surface. Open them slightly and place a cube of butter inside each one and spread the chili con carne.
9. Finally, sprinkle with grated cheese and decorate with jalapeños, beans, sour cream or whatever you like best.

Nordic Ware potato roaster , Zwilling bamboo wood cutting board , Pallarès carbon steel knife and Le Creuset ceramic ramekins .