I am not a Texan Munchkin so I like to show my cheeky nature by embellishing Chili Con Carne.  It sounds like when it comes to the truly authentic Chili Con Carne, people have many different ideas about it.  The only idea that I have in mind is to “spice” it up “Munchkin Style” which basically means looking for anything growing on the farm and chucking it into the pot with Chili and Carne.

These are things I found to throw into the Chili Con Carne:

 

Wild Split Gill Mushrooms are found growing everywhere in the Toledo region of Belize and like to grow on old logs.  They are actually an esteemed Mayan mushroom which is traditionally cooked in the “Caldo” or Chicken Soup.  These mushrooms are chewy in texture so they need a longer cooking time (about 30 to 60 minutes) in a stew or soup.  Today, I deep-fried these mushrooms as an addition to the chili dish.  My Chili Con Carne had lots of green peppercorns (as well as chili) to add to the overall spiciness.

Other spices I added to the Chili Con Carne Munchkin Style were: cinnamon, allspice, clove and cumin.  My version had kidney beans and I served it with pasta twirls.  How is that for total lack of authenticity?!  I am sure some people would shudder at the thought of my gross deviation!

Needless to say it was very, very spicy and very flavoursome.  The deep-fried split gill mushrooms added a crunchy texture to the dish.

This time, I will not furnish you with my recipe as I am aware that there is a plethora of authentic chili con carne recipes out there for everyone to choose from.

Gnome has written about Split Gill Mushrooms, click on the link if you want to read more!

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