Chillies Stuffed with Beef

By HeatherS

Ingredients

• 4 large fresh poblano chillies
• plain flour, for dusting
• vegetable oil, for frying
• spicy beef filling
• 500 g/1 Ib 2 oz minced beef
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp dry or sweet sherry
• pinch of ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground cloves
• pinch of ground cumin
• salt and pepper
• 400 g/14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
• l-3 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• 2-3 tbsp coarsely chopped toasted almonds
• Quick Tomato Sauce to serve See recipe in directions
• Batter
• 3 eggs, separated
• 6-8 tbsp plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 125 ml/4 fl oz water

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the grill to medium. Roast the chillies under the hot grill until the skin is charred. Place in a plastic bag, twist to seal well and let stand for 20 minutes. Make a slit in the side of each chilli and remove the seeds, leaving the stalks intact. Set aside.

To make the filling, brown the meat and onion together in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Pour off any extra fat, then add the garlic and sherry and boil down until the liquid has nearly evaporated. Add the cinnamon, cloves, cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar and vinegar and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes have reduced to a thick, strongly flavoured sauce. Stir in the coriander and almonds and heat through. Stuff as much of the filling into the chillies as will fit, then dust each with flour. Set aside.

To make the batter, lightly beat the egg yolks in a large bowl with the flour, salt and enough of the water to make a thick mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter, then gently dip each stuffed chilli into the batter.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan until very hot and just smoking. Add the chillies and fry until they are golden brown. Serve hot, topped with the Quick Tomato Sauce.

Quick Tomato Sauce
2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
400 g/14oz canned tomatoes, diced, plus their juices, or 600 g/1 Ib 5 oz fresh diced tomatoes
several shakes of mild chilli powder
300 ml/10 fl oz vegetable stock
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and
garlic and cook for 3 minutes, or until just softened,
stirring constantly.
Add the tomatoes, chilli powder to taste and the stock.
Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, or until
the tomatoes have reduced slightly and the flavour of
the sauce is more concentrated.
Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Serve
the dish warm.