I’ll let it be known right now that I am very much a control freak in my kitchen. I am in charge of my kitchen supplies and inventory and that’s that.
To my Husband this translates as living with a nightmare! I pretty much do all of the cooking and although the Husband can actually cook, I find it very hard just to leave him alone to get on with it. Usually I end up peering round the door, observing. The observing then turns into kind words of advice which then ends up in me barking orders and then an argument more often than not ensues. I like to think I’m not that much of a kitchen dictator but I’m sure the Husband would argue the contrary.
Hence I do most of the cooking…
However, on this particular day the husband was on a day off and decided to get into the kitchen whilst I was at work, to cook in peace! He made one of our favourite recipes from Jamie Oliver’s America book – Pork Green Chilli.
Now the key to this chilli is that it isn’t heavy with spice and tomatoes. It’s actually really light, clean and fresh due to the mint, sage and lime which feature in the dish. It’s served with crispy lettuce, sour cream and tortillas which only adds to its lightness. In addition, we served it with some left over roasted salsa which really added some extra zing.
Chillis aren’t all about Tex Mex and this one really demonstrates that.
Thanks goes out to the Husband for making a delicious meal!
Green Chilli
(Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s America)
Serves 4
Ingredients
olive oil
800g pork mince
1 teaspoon sage, chopped
salt and black pepper
2 onions, peeled, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
2 green peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
2-3 small green chillies, roughly chopped (adjust according to your taste buds!)
4 large ripe red tomatoes, chopped into small chunks
A small bunch of fresh mint
4 spring onions
1 lime
Soured cream to serve
1 packet of flour tortillas
1 romaine lettuce, leaves washed dry
Add some oil into a large pan and then add the pork mince, sage and then season well. Break the meat up a bit and stir it about, then cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onions, garlic, peppers and chillies and then stir everything together. Fry for about 15 minutes on a high heat until any liquid has evaporated off and the pork browns. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and half a glass of water.
This chilli is supposed to be quite dry not sloppy like a chilli con carne, so don’t water log the whole dish.
Turn the heat down to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes. It’s ready to serve then stir in the spring onions and the chopped mint.
Serve with a dollop of soured cream, lettuce and tortillas.
(The Husband made some very creative tortilla bowls by toasting them in the oven and then leaving them to cool round a bowl).
Think the boy did good… but this doesn’t mean I’ll be giving up control of the kitchen any time soon! 
