Ew, SpagBol. Sounds like a disease.
Nan's Favorite Chili (regionalized for Glasgow)
Brown about kilo of cubed lean stew meat in a little olive oil. Put it in the crock pot.
Add:
1 medium onion, diced
8 ounces tomato sauce (passata)
1/4 cup Vietnamese chili and garlic sauce
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (optional - I usually leave it out as I think it's way too much, but the Daughter prefers it in)
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano (regular oregano works)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika*
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons table salt
Stir it a bit so that the meat is coated with the spice mix. If it seems particularly dry, you could add a couple of tablespoons of water. Otherwise, as the meat cooks it will make its own chili gravy so you don't have to worry about how thoroughly it's mixed.
Cook, stirring periodically, until the meat becomes shreddy. (Ready in about six to eight hours, or overnight on low, depending on your tastes and texture preference.) You'll want to give it a taste about an hour before you plan to serve it - you might want to add more cumin (the magic "it's Mexican" taste ingredient) or possibly salt at that point. If it's too runny, leave the top off the crock pot and it'll evaporate some of the liquid.
To Serve: Ladle onto a bowl of fritos and top with shredded cheese for frito pie. As just chili, serve in a soup bowl and top with chopped onion, shredded cheese, and minced fresh cilantro (if you can get it), with some warm flour tortillas or cornbread. If the chili isn't too runny, it makes a really nice burrito filling. This is one of those things that the more you re-heat it as leftovers, the better it gets. It also freezes and then microwaves well. I tend to cook mine until the meat is shreddy and them mash it all up together so that it absorbs the chili gravy and then use it as a burrito filling most often.
*Some of the heat will come from the paprika, if so you get the hot stuff be aware of that. I usually use a mild smoked variety.
