Mexican Beef Stew - Julie Goodwin

This is the first Julie Goodwin recipe from her third book called 'Gather'. Julie says, and I have to agree, "This aromatic stew is lovely with steamed rice, but is really delicious served up with some flat bread, sour cream and a fresh tomato salsa". I served ours with steamed rice and broccolini. The family wolfed it down and went back for seconds. It's spicy, but even the fussy 11 year old enjoyed it. Serves 4 as a main or 8-10 as a part of a shared table. Prep time is 30mins and cooking time is 2 and a half hours.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (I used black)
• 1.5kg gravy beef or shin beef, diced (I used gravy beef)
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large brown onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 long green chillies, seeded and chopped (I omitted these for Mr 11's sake)
• 4 cups (1 litre) beef stock

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius or 140 degrees for fan forced ovens
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, ground cumin, chilli powder, salt and pepper. Toss the beef in the mixture. Be sure to shake the excess flour off the beef, or it will burn. Reserve the flour mixture
3. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large enamel pot (stove top AND oven proof pot) over a medium to high heat. Brown the beef in batches until golden on all sides. Transfer from the pot to a bowl
4. In the same pot heat the remaining oil and saute the onion and garlic for 5 mins or until translucent. Add the tomato paste and green chillies, and saute for a further minute
5. Return the beef to the pot, along with any remaining flour mixture from step 1. Stir in the stock. Place the lid on the pot and bake in the oven for 2 to 2 and a half hours or until the beef is very tender.

Note: The beef can be browned and the vegetables sauteed in a frying pan, then all the ingredients can be placed in a slow cooker for 4-5hrs...D-E-L-icious  XD