Chilli Beef with Pancakes
Pancake Tuesday was last week. While plenty of pancakes with lemon and sugar were on offer, I whipped up a batch of chilli beef with pancakes on the side to pile the chilli into.
Of course you can eat chilli beef any time - and I do - and serve it with rice or pasta.
It’s an easy recipe and the pancakes are even simpler!
For the chilli
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
500g good quality beef mince
2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
140g tomato paste (a small tub or tin)
1 teaspoon chilli paste or chilli powder, to taste
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Water, to loosen the sauce
For the pancakes
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
To make the chilli, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat on the stove top. Fry the garlic clove briefly, being careful not to burn it.
Start to brown the beef. Don’t fry all the beef at once - add it to the pan in big spoonfuls, quickly turning it in the hot oil to brown before adding the next lot. Once the beef is brown, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, chilli paste/powder, and sea salt and black pepper.
Turn the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour until the the tomatoes and tomato paste have turned into a sauce. Add a little water as necessary, depending on how juicy the tomatoes are. You don’t want the mixture to cook dry.
Once you are satisfied the chilli is the right consistency, check the seasoning. Serve now or it can be carefully reheated to serve later.
To make the pancakes, whisk the flour and milk in a bowl or a large jug, add the egg and the salt and whisk again so that the mixture is the consistency of thick cream.
Heat a non stick frypan on a high heat. Add the olive oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, pour in a thin layer of batter, swirling it around the pan,. Cook for about a minute until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. Turn the pancake over with a spatula, and cook the other side for about 30 seconds. Remove the cooked pancake to a plate and make more pancakes in the same way. You should get about 10 pancakes, give or take, from the mixture.
Serve at once, or layer the pancakes on a plate with baking paper or greaseproof paper in between each pancake. You can keep in the fridge till needed or put the stack in a Ziploc bag and freeze.
To serve, pile the chilli beef in a bowl or on a plate, with plenty of pancakes and some (optional) sour cream.
