Oxtail and Beef Cheek Chilli

By: Jane Sales

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
Stock:
Beef bones, onion, kombu
Roast the beef bones.
Chop the onion into quarters, place with the beef bones in water, add kombu and simmer (or pressure cook). Once done, reduce until dark and strong tasting. (Or if you are in the UK take a short cut by buying Heston’s – http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Heston-from-Waitrose-Beef-Stock/62924011?from=shop&tags=%7C20000&parentContainer=_SHELFVIEW)

Chilli
Two medium onions
Four cloves garlic
2 big pieces oxtail
1kg beef cheek
Beef stock (above)
Tomato puree
2 red peppers (optional)
Fresh chillis (optional)
2-4 dried habanero chillis
2-4 teaspoons of chipotles in adobo
1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika powder (Pimenton de la Vera)
Left over beef fat

Instructions: Warm the beef stock in a pan.

Chop the beef cheek into evenly sized chunks, about 2 inches cubed.

In the beef fat, gently fry the finely chopped onions until golden. Add the chopped chilli towards the end. Once done, add to the beef stock.

Add more beef fat, raise the temperature of the frying pan and brown off the whole pieces of oxtail and the chunks of beef cheek. Add the meat to the stock.

Squeeze in tomato puree to taste. It shouldn’t be too tomato-tasting – the meat, stock and chilli should shine through.

Add the dried chillis and smoked paprika powder to the pan.

Empty the pan into a slow cooker set on low. If necessary, add water so that the meat is covered. and slow cook for around 8 hours.

Once the meat is meltingly tender, remove it, and pour the broth into a pan. Simmer until they are reduced, and adjust the seasoning and spiciness.

Chop the red peppers into slices and stir fry in a little beef fat. Once tender, add to the chilli. If you want to spice things up, you could stir fry fresh chillis here too, and add them. I like things fiery!

Pull the oxtail off the bone, and add it back into the broth. Add the beef cheek too, stir, warm through and serve.

Squatchy

Christopher Williams (a.k.a. Squatchy) is a paleo aficionado, educator, personal trainer, wellness coach, and hobbyist chef. He also works as part of the Robb Wolf team.