We’re still in the so-called summer months here at the moment, but it’s been a bit cold, and I’ve been recovering from a nasty virus, so in the interests of a tasty healthy meal I decided to haul myself out of bed, and make a big pot of slow-cooked chilli. The best thing about this is that it tastes even better the following days, as the juices soak in. It’s straightforward, healthy and hearty, and it just cooks away as you go about your life (or go back to bed in my case!)
Caution: lots of chilli in this one, just half or 1/3 it if you like, but remember to layer the different types of chilli as this builds the flavour)
INGREDIENTS
1 kg chuck steak/stewing steak
2 large onions
2 teaspoons garlic
2 teaspoons chilli flakes in oil
2 teaspoons crushed chilli paste
2 teaspoons dried chilli
2 fresh chillis (seeds/membranes in for extra kick)
1x large (400g) tin of tomatoes
2x heaped tablespoons beef stock (minimum)
1x 300g tin red kidney beans
METHOD
Now you can do this one of two ways, brown the beef in a pan (recommended) or if you’re short on time just throw everything in the slow cooker and let it get going. When you brown the meat it does have a lovely rich flavour, but if you’re making this before you scoot off to work you’re not going to be stoked about an extra step so it’s up to you….
I slow cook the above ingredients for a minimum of 6 hours, it needs this much because this is a tough cut of meat, and after the right amount of time, it will fall apart in your mouth…
Around 45 mins before serving I roughly cut up 3x medium-large zucchini, and 2x large red capsicums, to around 3/3cms – chunky and as uniform in size as you can get it. Throw this in, stir it up, and let it soak up the flavours.
Around 20 minutes before serving I also add around 1.5 cups of rice. Theses days I use a pre-cooked bag of Uncle Toby’s rice because it’s easy and fast…. if you want to go the traditional route you should add this (cleaned/ drained so it doesn’t make everything gluggy) at least 2 hours before you plan to serve.
Keep tasting as you go, to ensure the textures and flavours are where you want them to be.
Serving: I served with garlic pita bread, but you can make a wonderfully easy focaccia to go with this, it soaks the juices up (and believe me, people will be scraping the bowl!)
Great for Autumn, Winter or whenever you need a little comfort food.
NB: pro-tip, sometimes dishes like this just don’t seem to ‘pop’ the way we want them to, on those days I add a sneaky pinch of cinnamon to the slow cooker, and it’s just magic.