smoked chilli beef, short days, slow cooked dinners

A smoky beef chilli, chunks of beef with beans and vegetables, slow-braised in a spicy sauce, perfect for feeding a crowd!

It’s Winter, its cold outside, it gets dark early and I want a warming stew, specifically some slow braised beef. I was busy outdoors at the weekend, trying to give the garden a good tidy while the weather is still holding. I prepared this chilli in around 20 minutes then popped it into the oven and left it. Like many at a weekend I want something quick to prepare and I don’t mind if it takes all afternoon to cook. Coming back indoors to a kitchen warm with the smell of food cooking, perfect.

However, with the festive period fast approaching we all have those recipes that we rely on to feed a crowd. One such recipe is this smoky beef chilli. It’s the type of recipe that can be easily multiplied depending on the numbers you are feeding.

This dish is ideal for the Christmas holidays, those days between Christmas and New Year, as it can feed a crowd. I cook this chilli at the end of November and place it in batches in the freezer. Meaning I have a ready-made dish to feed the masses but with no real effort other than remembering to take it out in enough time to defrost! I rely on prep ahead dishes at this time of year. As much as I love cooking I don’t want to stand for hours when I have family and friends round.

We have used beef shin in this dish, but you can easily substitute with other slow braising cuts like brisket. Just make sure you cut the beef into large chunks before cooking.

Other similar recipes, just as easy to prepare are our Slow Braised Paprika Beef and our Asian Inspired Beef Shoulder.  Like this chilli these are simple assembly jobs before popping into the oven for a few hours.

Finally special thanks to Donald Russell for providing the beef for this recipe, it is very much appreciated.

 

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smoked chilli beef

A rich and smoky beef chilli, with lots of beans and vegetables wrapped in a smoky, spicy chilli sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword beef chilli

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef shin or same quantity of stewing steak cut into large chunks
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 5-6 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 red chillies deseeded and diced
• 2 red peppers deseeded and diced
• 2 tins kidney beans in chilli sauce do not drain, the chilli sauce should be added with the beans
• 1 tbsp Stubbs hickory liquid smoke
• 250 ml tomato passata
• 1 Knorr beef stock pot
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 250 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a heavy based casserole dish. Season the chunks of beef with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Place in the onions in the pan and saute gently for 5 mins, taking care not to burn. Add the garlic, chilli and red pepper and continue to saute for a further minute.
3. Add the ground coriander and cumin to the vegetables and fry gently for 2 minutes to release the flavour.

4. Return the beef to the casserole dish and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well, cover and place in a low oven at 140CFan for 4-5 hours until the beef pulls apart. If the dish looks like it is drying out add a little water to loosen the gravy.

Recipe Notes

We like to serve this chilli with some plain rice, tortilla chips, guacamole, tomato salsa and sour cream.

If you prefer the beef can be substituted with minced beef, however cook on the hob and only for an hour or so.

You can alter the heat of the dish to your own palate by either adding or removing the red chillies.

If you can't find Stubbs liquid smoke, substitute 1 tbsp smoked paprika instead and add with the cumin and coriander. As with many spiced dishes this meal benefits from sitting overnight to allow the flavours to develop, making it an ideal plan ahead meal.