Not so Chilli for the Chilly weather

Its cold, very cold, well o.k., its not freezing, we do live in the subtropics after all, and yes there are no snowflakes or sleet rushing through the house, but there is a very cold and lazy wind, too lazy to go 'round you, goes straight through.
Today is Rachael day, that is the day Rachael comes to help me clean, and we work together on so called spring cleaning, either a room or area and we tend to use the front veranda to deposit small things, like the rugs over the railings, and what a great place to pop the dinning chairs, etc, you get the picture.Well today I kind of overdid it, so dinner tonight just had to be simple, add to that the youngest DS thought he might join us......well chill, but not so hot, seemed the way to go. So with a cursory glance at Stephanie Alexanders chill recipe in her book 'the cook's companion...p.137, a really great book by the way, this is what I came up with and I have to tell you, it sure was better eating than looking at the pic.
Not as good as Stephanie's real recipe, but not too bad either, and I have to thank one of Stephanie's ingredients for that, polenta, yep, you got it, polenta, it cooks right on in there and gives the dish such a creamy texture. Great.
Of course the whole thing would have gone a lot better with the rather yummy corn muffins that I have managed to discover, but heck, did I mention that energy levels were low......really low?

This is what happened to produce the above:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 really large onion, diced
1 monster glove of garlic, Mexican and pink skinned, so just use 2 cloves of what you have
400 grams diced beef
400 grams minced beef
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
3 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 kg diced fresh tomatoes, yeah, well if I had 'em they would have been canned
1 jar passata, (Italian tomato cooking sauce)
2 tablespoons polenta
1 can 400grm approx of red kidney beans

Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan, add the onion and garlic and cook a little until slightly translucent, increase heat and add the minced beef, stir until there are no lumps, and meat is slightly browned. I use a whisk for this, its easier.
Add beef cubes and allow to brown all over, stirring a couple of times.
Add salt, pepper, paprika, hot smoked paprika, cumin and bay leaves, stir until combined.
Add tomatoes, fresh or canned and passata with the polenta, stir until combined, turn heat down low and place a simmer mat under pot and then just forget it........have a nap...I did, or better still a wine.
After about and hour, give it a stir to make sure the polenta isn't sticking, rinse off the can of beans and add to meat. Steam up some rice while the beans heat and then serve.

And if you really want to float your boat, make the real thing, its just so much more of a flavour adventure. But really, for a cold night and no energy, this did o.k.