All the flavours of Mexico were present in this melt in your mouth, slow cooked beef stew.  I pimped up the rice a little to take it up an Ems Food notch and topped it with creamy avocado, sour cream and crunchy, sweet red onion.  Served with soft tortillas it was a delicious, budget friendly meal that I really have Valli Little (Delicious Magazine) to thank for the inspiration!

 

Prep time:  30  Minutes               Cooking time:  3 Hours                $$ Medium Budget

 

This would be suitable for the slow cooker, however I would either halve the stock amount or transfer to a saucepan and reduce on the stove to thicken.

 

Serves 6

 

1.2kg of gravy beef cut into large chunks

1 dried chipotle chilli (available on line at herbies.com.au if unavailable in store)

2 brown onions, roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1 tsp of sweet paprika

1 tsp of ground coriander

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tbs of ground cumin

1 tbs of dried oregano

2 tbs of olive oil

1/4 cup of coconut sugar (or 2 tsp of brown sugar)

2 x 400gm tins of diced tomatoes

2 cups of beef stock

400gm tin of black beans, drained and rinsed (available in the Mexican section of the supermarket)

1 cup of coriander leaves

Sea salt and cracked pepper

6 tbs of sour cream

1 avocado diced

1 small red onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced top to bottom

Coriander sprigs for garnish

Chargrilled tortillas, lime wedges and a crisp green salad to serve

 

For the Coriander & Lime Rice:

 

2 cups of Basmati rice

3 cups of water

Sea salt and pepper

1 green chilli, roughly chopped

1/2 a bunch of coriander

Juice of 1 lime

 

Place the chipotle chilli in a small bowl of boiling water and allow to soak for 30 minutes. Drain and reserve 1/2 a cup of the liquid.

 

Pre heat the oven to 150°C.

 

Place the chipotle chilli, onions, garlic, spices and oregano in a small food processor or blender and blitz to a fine paste.  Add the reserved chilli water if the mixture is too thick and dry.  Heat a large oven proof casserole dish and add the oil.  Fry the paste on a low heat for approximately 5-6 minutes or until aromatic, stirring regularly.  Add the beef and stir until the beef is browned all over and then add the tomatoes, stock and sugar.  Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.  Cover with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Your kitchen will smell amazing!

 

After 2 hours, remove the lid from the casserole and stir in the drained black beans.  Increase the heat to 180°C and allow the casserole to reduce for approximately 30 minutes.  You can remove it from the oven and reduce on the stove top if you prefer.  Stir through the coriander leaves just before serving.

 

Place the rice and water in a medium sized saucepan, season with salt and bring to the boil, occasionally stirring with a fork.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 12 minutes.  Turn the heat off and allow the rice to steam for at least five minutes, making sure you leave the lid on.

 

Place the coriander, chilli and lime juice in a blender and blend until you have a nice paste.  Stir the mixture through the rice just before serving.

 

To serve, divide the rice between 6 serving plates.  Top with the beef mixture, a dollop of sour cream and scatter over the onion, avocado and remaining coriander. serve with warm tortillas and lime wedges.  Sublime.