Beef and Lentil Quick Guajillo Stew .

I was thinking about my granny Marina’s cooking when I made this dish, and how she would stretch somehow the little ingredients that she had to feed a big family, this is a skill I think that only those who are in charge of feeding their families possess.

But also I realised something very important, when I was growing up we really didn’t eat much meat as this was balanced with many other ingredients or sides like vegetables, legumes, rice, a sauce and tortillas , all of those things provided a nutritious and filling meal. But somehow we got out of the balanced wagon and started over producing meat in order to make it cheaper and eating much more meat than we actually needed to.

I have mentioned this before and I know that racing beef cattle has a bad impact on our environment but I think that we have also forgotten about the farms that produce things in small scale making sure that they race cattle in a sustainable way and looking after the welfare of those animals, and yes good quality meat like this can cost a bit more but you don’t need to buy a lot to offer a good meal for your family.

And I hope I can show you how to achieve that with this dish that only uses just a little bit of rump steak and that combined with other ingredients makes a delicious satisfying meal to feed four, the star of this recipe really are the guajillo chillies and I cannot stress enough how important Mexican dried chilies are in my spice cabinet, they have so much flavour and you can prepare an amazingly delicious sauce in no time.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Guajillo Paste.

6 guajillo chilies, (clean and remove the stems).

2 fat garlic cloves, (peeled and crushed).

6 shallots, (peeled and halved).

1 tbsp rapeseed oil, (or any vegetable cooking oil of your preference).

2 cups of hot water .

For the Beef and Lentil Caldillo.

250 grams of Rump Steak (cut into small bite size chunks).

1 yellow onion, (diced).

1 tbsp olive oil.

1 tsp of ground pasilla.

1 tsp of sugar.

1 tbsp tamari sauce or worcestershire sauce.

2 medium potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes).

500 ml of chicken stock.

2 cups of cooked brown lentils.

Quick recipe: Wash and rinse one cup of lentils, then soak them with a bit of water for 15 minutes, discard the water and place the lentils in a sauce pan with 3/4 parts water , add a piece of onion, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 tbsp salt and a bay leaf, cover with a lid and simmer on a medium temperature for 45 minutes or until soft and cooked.

1 tbsp salt.

1 tsp black coarse pepper.

2 cups of Mexican red rice.

2 cups of fresh coriander, (finely chopped).

Method:

Begin by preparing your guajillo chilli paste, heat up rapeseed oil over a pan and then add the garlic cloves and shallots , fry them slowly and stir occasionally. Add the guajillo chillies and fry them gently on each side (be ware to do this quickly as they will taste bitter if you burn them) a couple of seconds on each side is enough, finally pour in the water and cover with a lid, simmer on a gentle heat for 10 minutes, when your chillies turn soft remove from the pan from the heat.

Place the chilli mixture into a blender and blend really smooth, reserve.

In a heavy base cast iron pan (preferably) or a sauce pan, heat up the oil and then add the onions, meat, the ground pasilla, sugar and tamari sauce, stir and cook until your meat gets a bit of colour.

Pour in the guajillo chilli paste and fry it alongside your meat for a minute or two, then pour in the chicken stock and potatoes , cover with a lid and simmer on a medium heat for 15 minutes approx, or until your potatoes are cooked through.

Once your potatoes are cooked add the brown lentils in, season with salt and black coarse pepper, let it simmer for another 15 minutes or so.

Serve hot in a bowl making sure there is a bit of everything in your plate, you can garnish with a bit of red Mexican rice or white steamed rice, finely chopped coriander and warm tortillas on the side, enjoy!