Beef Cheek Chili

By Dustin

Ingredients

• 2 beef cheeks
• 1 x 400g tin good tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp fresh ground cumin (or preferably 1 tbsp fresh cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan for a couple of minutes over a medium heat and ground to a fine powder – it tastes so much better)
• 1 tbsp chopped dried chipotle chilli
• 1 tsp chopped dried pasilla chilli
• 1 tsp chopped dried ancho chilli
• 1 tbsp good dried oregano
• fresh parsley or coriander to garnish
• flavourless oil for frying – groundnut oil or coconut oil are my preference as you can heta both to high temperatures without changing the flavour (and coconut oil has a texture similar to butter and you don’t taste the coconut)

Preparation

Step 1

In a sauté pan with a lid that will comfortably accommodate the beef cheeks, sauté the beef cheeks until brown on each side over a medium heat in a tablespoon of oil. Remove from the pan.

In the same pan sauté the garlic over a medium heat in a tablespoon of oil, add the cumin and chillies for a further minute, then add the tomatoes, vinegar and honey, then fill the tin with water and add that too. Bring to a boil. Add the beef cheeks, baste with the sauce, and reduce the heat to low. Cover with a lid, and cook gently for a couple of hours, basting occasionally. Add the oregano.