Slow cooked chilli beef

Posted by petra08 on November 23, 2016 · 6 Comments 

How about a dinner party? I love to have guests for dinner, the feeder in me comes out. Food has a lovely way of bringing people together. A good dinner party is as much about the food as it is about the chemistry around the dinner table. If there is anyone coming that I would think even slightly boring (sometimes this is unavoidable) I try to counter with someone more lively. Slightly controversial topics also works and it keeps the evening interesting, lately just refer to the news and I promise there won’t be a dull moment.

 

The other day I decided to make another beef stew. The winds were getting really cold, I got out my warm jumpers, thick jackets and winter boots. Ok, I am a bit of a sissy. I think I have lived in the UK for too long as even the thought of going home to Sweden in the  middle of winter makes me cold!  So here I am with my winter gear, quietly wondering if anyone of my Swedish friends even wears a woolly hat yet! It doesn’t really matter and I this day I needed a warming beef stew. Not a fancy one but one that is cooked low and slow and makes you go in for seconds and most likely thirds. I did a big batch and as I cooked for many it wasn’t right without friends to share it with.

 

Slow cooked chilli beef stew

preparation time 10 minutes

cooking time 3 1/2 hours

oven 140F or 284F 

serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 kg or 35 oz shin of beef, or any braising part of the beef
• a piece of chorizo sausage, sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced in to thick slices
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut in to slices
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 1 raw beetroot, peeled and quartered
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1 heaped tbsp miso paste
• 2 fresh chillies, sliced
• 1 piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut julienne
• 3 bayleafes, I used fresh, if you use dried 2 would be enough
• 1 heaped tsp peppercorns
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 dried whole lime, slightly crushed
• 5 dl or 2 1/2 cup beef stock
• vegetable oil, I used rapeseed oil
• watercress – to add just before serving

I chopped the vegetables and trimmed the meat.

 

 

Heat the oil in an oven poof pan with a tight fitting lid. Salt and pepper the meat before browning it. I fried the meat in batches to make sure it browned evenly. Add the chorizo and fry for a few minutes.

When the meat is browned add the vegetables, bay leaves and the peppercorns. Let the mixture fry for a few minutes and add the remaining ingredients. Make sure everything is mixed and brought to a boil. Place the lid on top and place in the oven for about 3 hours.

Taste the stew after about an hour to adjust the flavors. If the chillies are too hot add a tbsp of honey, this will temper the heat.

The stew is ready when the meat is tender, you should be able to cut through the meat with a  spoon.

 

 

Just before serving add roughly chopped watercress.

 

 

Serve the beef stew with boiled, pan fried potatoes or rice and some whipped, natural yogurt on the side. I also did a persimmon salsa, cutting persimmon in to cubes and adding lemon juice and zest to cut through the richness of the beef and added a little coriander for garnish.

 

 

We ate the stew over a great conversation and a nice bottle of Malbec and it is a perfect sharing dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed under Allotment/Veg, Beef, Carrot, Celery, Chilli, Fruit, Garlic, Ginger, Herbs, Lemon, Main course, Meat, Onion, Potatoes, Recipe, Red, Side dish, Watercress · Tagged with beef stew, Chilli beef stew, Persimmon salsa