Carne Con Chile

Step 1

Place a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and toast the chillies for 20 seconds, until fragrant but not burnt. Place them into a bowl and pour over 450ml/16fl oz boiling water to cover them. Leave to soak for 15–20 minutes.

Step 2

In the same frying pan, dry fry the tomatoes and garlic until softened and charred. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then peel off and discard the garlic skins and quarter the tomatoes.

Step 3

Heat a tablespoon of lard or oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and brown one third of the beef. Transfer to a plate and then repeat until all the beef has browned, adding another tablespoon of lard or oil as needed.

Step 4

Add the remaining lard or oil to the pan and fry the onion for 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the cumin, oregano, allspice and bay leaf. Cook for 2 minutes.

Step 5

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas

Step 6

Place the soaked chilies and roughly 150ml/5fl oz of their soaking liquid into a food processor. Add the garlic, tomatoes, salt and chipotles en adobo and blend until as smooth as possible.

Step 7

Tip the paste into the casserole dish. Add the browned beef and stir in the rest of the chilli soaking water. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer on a low heat. Cover and cook in the oven for 1½–2 hours until the beef is tender. Check the water level a couple of times during cooking to make sure the meat doesn’t dry out. Add a little more liquid if necessary.

Step 8

Warm the tortillas and serve the chilli with the toppings on the side. Add rice or beans if desired.