BUFFALO STEAK

• Rich buttery and gorgeously sumptuous this is a dish that will have you murmuring words of pleasure, simple to make a one pot wonder or instant pot slow cook, this is a fabulous dinner to come home to all done and ready to go.  It has a hot warming kinda chilli heat that builds up the more you eat but the rich buttery tomato sauce works really well with the scotch bonnet sauce.  A firm favourite in my family home.

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 3 hrs (hands off)

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

800g chuck steak chunky diced 

1tbsp coconut oil

1 lrg onion finely diced

6 cloves garlic finely diced

1 red pepper chopped

1 celery chopped

1 leek chopped

1 carrot chopped

1 scotch bonnet chilli diced or milder chilli

4 tins tomatoes 

3 tbsp tomato purée 

1 tbsp sugar

250g butter

1 BOTTLE West Indian hot pepper sauce (250ml)

Sea salt

Black pepper

1 bunch fresh coriander chopped

2 fresh jalapeños sliced (optional)

1 lemon juiced (optional)

 

 First place your pan on the cooker, add the coconut oil, the onions, garlic, peppers, celery, leek and carrots and gently soften for around ten minutes keeping the onions translucent, next add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and chillies, scotch bonnets if you want that extra level of gum tingling Ka-Pow! 

Bring the tomato sauce to a gentle just bubbling simmer and cook for ten minutes, meanwhile take your choice of steak and rough chop into 1" pieces, season with salt and black pepper, at the moment my choice is skirt because it has such depth of flavour and suits well to either flash frying rare or slow braising where all the flavour can melt into your sauce.  Melt some coconut oil in a frying pan and brown off the skirt all over then reserve to one side.

With a soup stick blender blend the tomato sauce until smooth, if you don't have a stick blender use a food processor, and pulse in small batches with a tea towel held over the top of the blender as hot liquids can spirt out when pulsed under pressure!

Bring the blended tomato sauce back up to a gentle almost simmer and add the beef scraping the pan all of the resting juices, add half or like me the whole bottle of West Indian (it’s not as hot as you think!) and gently cook for approx three hours, stirring occasionally.  When your tomato sauce is thick and the beef wants to fall apart when touched add the pack of butter and stir in gently once melted, taste and adjust with adding more Louisiana hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper and maybe a squidge of lemon juice.  Finish with fresh coriander and jalapeños.

If you want more of a burn chilli heat rather than the warm hot pepper buzz this dish gives add fine diced Scotch bonnet to your finished dish when served for that gum tingling Ka-Pow! 

•