Mamma's Mexican Beef Hot Pot

This simple and hearty recipe will get you through a winter’s evening. It has bags of flavour and is super easy to make. I made it up on a craving for Mexican food and it was too good not to share. Hope you like it.

Ingredients
600g beef diced in small chunks (best to use scotch fillet or chuck steak)
1 large onion diced finely
7 cloves of garlic chopped finely
large handful of parsley, stems chopped finely, leaves aside
large handful of coriander, stems chopped finely, leaves aside
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
400g can of diced tomatoes
1 tomato chopped finely
1 large capsicum diced
3 medium carrots sliced thickly
1 zucchini sliced thickly
2 celery sticks sliced thickly
400ml stock (or enough to cover all ingredients in the pot)
1 teaspoon each of cumin, sweet (hungarian) paprika, ground coriander
Ground chilli to taste
Zest of half a lime
Salt, pepper to taste
Steamed rice for serving

Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 3 hours

Heat oil and butter in a large pot with a thick base over a low to medium heat. Add onion, garlic, parsley and coriander stems and without burning or browning, stir until onion is soft.

Add tomato paste and continue stirring for a minute or two until well combined. Add meat and and stir until browned. Once meat is browned on all surfaces add tinned tomatoes, all the vegetables and the stock (to cover).

Bring to the boil, add spices (and chilli if using), then cover and reduce to a low heat so it’s just simmering for about one and a half to two hours.

Remove cover, add lime zest and season with salt and pepper and simmer for around another hour until meat is tender and all fat has dissolved. If the sauce needs thickening make a paste with 1 tablespoon flour and two tablespoons of warm water and stir in slowly about half an hour before serving.

Steam rice for four people. Just before serving, add parsley and coriander leaves and leave a few aside for garnishing.