A hearty Winter stew just bursting with flavour from food writer Brian Glover. If you want to prepare it the day before – cook it in the oven for the first 1 ½ hours then add the chorizo but not the sweet potato. It can be frozen at this point too which makes it a very handy dish all round.
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS:
225 g piece chorizo
4-6 tablespoons olive oil
900 g stewing beef, cubed
2 tablespoons plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 medium onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
a few sprigs thyme
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 rounded teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
725 ml beef stock
1 cinnamon stick
a strip of orange peel
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
pinch of brown sugar
chopped thyme and thinly sliced red chilli to serve
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3.
Skin the chorizo and cut into slices about 1cm thick.
Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat and fry the chorizo for about 5 minutes, turning once, until just browned. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Toss the beef cubes in the seasoned flour. Raise the heat under the casserole and fry the beef in batches until well browned, adding extra oil if necessary. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Lower the heat and add the onions to the pan with a little more oil if needed. Cover the pan and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until soft and sweet.
Add the garlic, chilli and cumin seeds and fry for another 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the thyme, allspice and paprika followed by the tomatoes and cook over a medium heat for a few minutes more.
Pour in the stock, add the cinnamon stick and orange peel and bring to the boil.
Return the beef to the casserole and cover with baking parchment making sure it is touching the surface of the meat. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 1 ½ hours.
Turn the oven up to 180°/Gas 4.
Stir the chorizo and sweet potato into the casserole, check the seasoning and add the brown sugar.
Cook for another 30-40 minutes until the meat is tender and the sweet potato is cooked.
Garnish with the chopped thyme and sliced chilli and serve.