Slow Cooked Chunky Beef Chilli

I love chilli made with minced beef but I love this recipe even more with meltingly soft and tender chunks of beef in a rich, spicy sauce.  You get far more texture and variety making chilli this way and the slow cooking makes the flavour awesome.  Smoked paprika may sound like an odd ingredient but it gives a sweet smoky depth to the stew.  Just make sure you use sweet smoked paprika or test the flavour first as you can get spicy versions.

Chilli flakes and powders vary (mine was a pretty new jar and the more recently the jar or pack is opened, the spicier it will be) so you may find this less spicy than you like.  My top tip though is to use some tabasco or other hot sauce to bring up the spice at the end if you feel that it needs it.  The problem with slow cooking is it tends to intensify the flavours of chilli so it's easy to end up with a chilli at the end which is more "blow your head off" than "gently warming" so I'd err on the side of cautious then correct the flavour at the end.  The other benefit being you then have a more multidimensional flavour.


If you do get to the end of the recipe and think it's too hot, add another can of drained beans to the mix.

There is no making this kind of dish for a small number of people but good news is it freezes and reheats brilliantly.

Slow Cooked Chunky Beef Chilli - Serves approx 4

Ingredients

450g, 1 lb Stewing or braising beef
1 Onion, diced
1 tsp Olive oil
2 Cloves garlic
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Fresh thyme
1 tbsp Sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp Dried hot chilli flakes
1 can, c. 400g, 14oz Chopped tomatoes
1 can c. 240g, 8oz drained weight, Red kidney beans
1 can c. 240g, 8oz drained weight, Borlotti or pinto beans
Small glass red wine
2 Red bell peppers, chopped
2 Dried bay leaves
Beef stock cube (low salt)
1/2 tsp Unsweetened cocoa powder
Tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)
Coriander (cilantro), rice and grated cheese to serve

Method

Dry fry the beef in a frying pan until browned and put in the slow cooker.  Deglaze the pan with the red wine quickly and pour in.

Fry the onions in the oil until starting to brown.  Put in the slow cooker with the chopped garlic and remaining ingredients.

Cook for approx 4-8 hours (the shorter cooking time would be on "high" setting but you can cook longer on "low") until the meat is meltingly tender.

Taste the spicing and add hot sauce to taste if the flavour is too mild.

Serve with rice and coriander with some grated cheese as well if liked.