Name: Chilli for Friends
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon sunflower or vegetable oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon tomato paste (concentrated purée); Pickled jalapeños; 1 celery stick, finely chopped; 500 ml (18 fl oz) beef stock; 1 × 400-g (14-oz) tin chopped tomatoes or plum tomatoes; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 red (bell) pepper, chopped; 100 g (3½ oz) pearl barley (optional); 1 teaspoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika; 1 ox cheek (about 400-500 g/14 oz-1 lb 2 oz), cut into pieces; 1½ teaspoons hot chilli powder (or use mild if you don’t like it too spicy); 2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped; 125 ml (4 fl oz) red wine; Plain cooked rice or corn tortillas; 150 ml (5½ fl oz) sour cream; 75 g (2½ oz) dark (bittersweet) chocolate (optional); Cheddar cheese, grated (shredded); 1 × 400-g (14-oz) tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Tinned Tomatoes Cookbook

By Samuel Goldsmith

Published 2024

About

Slow-cooked chilli using ox cheek is a completely different experience to the chilli con carne using minced (ground) beef. Neither is necessarily better than the other – they merely serve different purposes. Cooking ox cheek slowly makes it melt in the mouth and the sauce is rich and deep. Likewise, the tomatoes, being slow cooked, give a much different flavour.