I like cooking fast and improvising. It works well with some things. But don’t try it when baking.

Today, I started with some leftover steak and ended up with a rich tasting chili that knocked my socks off.

Here’s what I did:

1. Chop and onion and 4-6 cloves of garlic. Saute in olive oil.

2. Add some dried red chili peppers for some heat. And a healthy dose of fresh ground black pepper. At this point, the acrid steam coming off the saute should irritate your eyes. That’s a good thing.

3. Add the spices. I was going informal today, so here’s what I did. I heard somewhere that if you hold out your hand and pour a powdered pile of spice into the very middle, that’s about a teaspoon. So, I did 3 of those teaspoons of chili and one each of cumin, oregano and cayenne. This dried up the saute and started to almost burn.

4. At that point, I poured in the remaining carton of beef broth (let’s call it half, say 2 cups) which turned all that yummy almost burning spices into a rich sauce.

5. Then, I added a cup of beer. I tasted it and, well, it had seen better days as a drinking beer. But, apparently, it still had life as a cooking beer.

6. Then I added a small tin of tomato paste, the whole thing. This really thickens and imparts a richness. And, it’s so good for you.

7. Then, the 3 day old steak went in. Cut into tiny pieces and already cooked, it didn’t need much more cooking. Really, it was just about melding the flavours.

To this point, we are running about 10-15 minutes of prep and about 30 minutes of simmering. I turned off the burner and left to pick up the kids from school. When I finally returned, after an ordeal with a nail in my van tire and a trip to the tire shop to try and get it repaired, I did the final step.

8. Add a can of red kidney beans. And, while I was at it, I thought I’d throw in some chick peas, just because I made some from scratch the previous day.

So, there you are, Jay’s Chili con Carne. Well, truth be told, I owe the inspiration for this variation to Bonnie Stern whose dog-eared Heart Smart cookbook is among my favourites (thanks SG).