Season the beef with a sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in heavy based pan, add the chunks of beef and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan, add the onions and fry until they are lightly golden brown, then add in the chopped carrot, celery, and pepper, cook until soft. Note- a little colour gives the dish a lovely flavour.
Stir in the garlic and fresh green chilli cook for a couple of minutes.
Remove the stalks and seeds from the ancho and chipotle chiilies and finely chop them (or use the paste as explained in the introduction), add to the pot as well as the cumin, paprika, oregano, chocolate powder and the coffee, stock, and chopped tomatoes. Stir and leave to simmer with the lid on for 2 hours occasionally checking there’s enough liquid.
After two hours take the lid off the pot and let the sauce reduce down for about 30 minutes. The beef should now be very tender.
I serve this in bowls with black beans and rice topped with fresh super ripe avocado and tomato salsa, and homemade tortilla chips- delish!
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
600g beef shin or similar cut, cut into large cubes
1 large onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled sliced and diced
2 sticks celery, finely diced
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 fat cloves of garlic, passed with 1 flat teaspoon sea salt
1 small fresh green chilli, finely chopped
2 chipotle chillies-(2 teaspoons)
1 Ancho chilli ,(1 rounded teaspoon)
1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
200ml freshly brewed coffee
500ml good beef stock- I use Baxters Beef Consommé
Half a tin (220g) of chopped tomatoes