beef and chicken chilli

Camping meals aren't always easy or convenient to prepare so we tend to take a meal with us. The trick is to freeze it so that the finished product acts as an ice block in the cool box. Since this is a short trip, without electric hook-up, we can take it down in the box and it'll take all one day and part of the next to fully defrost. The first night is set to be warm so we can bbq otherwise I'd be preparing a curry to take for then. I'm hoping this will comfortably feed 9 of us. As for inspiration, I really like the curry from take aways called a chicken and lamb rezala (spelling may be dodgy) so I thought the same richness could be applied to a traditional chilli con carne. I think I got it right;)

Ingredients:

• 720g of minced beef (ground beef)
• 450g of chicken breast, cubed
• 2x400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin red kidney beans (or you can soak and cook your own if you have time)
• 1 tin of water from the tap
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 courgette, chopped
• 2 green peppers, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, crushed with sea salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper
• 3 heaped teaspoons of paprika (I didn't use smoked for this)
• 4 heaped teaspoons of ground cumin
• 2 heaped tsp of chilli powder (I'd add fresh chilli too to spice this up but I'm feeding 'delicate' children)
• a handful of black olives
• olive oil (I use extra virgin)
• a little sunflower (or canola) oil

1. fry the onion gently in the olive oil for a few minutes (use a deep heavy pan)
2. add the garlic, carrot, pepper and courgette, and fry for 10 mutes or so
3. add the spices and herbs before removing from the pan to set aside
4. fry the beef for 5 or 10 minutes, gently, in the sunflower oil, until browned (I add the bay leaves half way through)
5. set aside the beef with the vegetables
6. gently seal the diced chicken for a few minutes
7. add the beef and vegetables to the chicken and combine
8. add the tomatoes, water (I guess you could use beef stock), kidney beans and olives
9. simmer gently for about an hour on the stove top with a lid over the pan

This'll be served in bowls with plain boiled rice and nachos in the Peak District drizzle or mist!