Cooking Time: 3 hours.
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 4 - 6 (but freezes great - so make a big one!)
• Trim the sinew off the beef cheeks. This takes a bit of time - but must be done! It's a super tough cut of meat. Make sure you have a sharp knife & once trimmed, cut into bite-size chunks.
• Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add some canola oil to the pan. In batches brown the meat. Do NOT over-crowd the pan. If you do, the meat will broil instead of brown.
• In a large pot, heat some canola oil over medium heat.
• Add garlic, chilli, onion, celery & blitzed Exciting Carrots.
• Sauté until soft.
• Increase heat & add browned beef cheeks.
• Add all the dry ingredients & mix well.
• Pour in red wine & water and boil for a few mins.
• Add tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, lime juice, chocolate, tomato ketchup, orange zest & hot sauce.
• Season well with salt and pepper.
• Bring to a very low simmer, cover with lid and cook for 2.5 hours. Check & stir every 20 minutes / half an hour.
• After 2.5 hours. Add kidney beans. ONLY add these at the end. If you add them at the beginning, they can catch on the bottom of pot and burn. This will ruin your chilli & you will have a little cry (yes, this happened). I'm SAVING you from this sadness. You've been warned.
• Taste the meat. It should be meltingly tender. Season according to taste.
• Serve up the deliciousness with crusty bread.
• Add some sliced red cabbage on top for crunch and some fresh coriander.
• YUMMMMMM!