Smoked Brisket Chilli with Cornbread

• 800 gleftover cooked smoked brisket, cut into 2 cm chunks
• 1 tspfine salt
• 3ancho chillies, stems and seeds removed
• 2chipotle chillies in adobo, plus 2 tbsp of the adobo sauce
• 500 mlhot beef stock
• 2 tbspneutral oil
• 2large brown onions, diced
• 1red pepper, diced
• 1green pepper, diced
• 6garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsptomato purée
• 2 tbspground cumin
• 4 tspsmoked paprika
• 1 tspdried oregano (Mexican if you have it)
• 1 tspcoarse black pepper
• 400 gtin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbspdark brown sugar
• 1 tbspcider vinegar
• 240 gdrained kidney beans (from a 400 g tin), rinsed
• 240 gdrained pinto beans (from a 400 g tin), rinsed
• 2 tbspmasa harina
• fine salt, to taste
• 200 gcoarse cornmeal (polenta)
• 100 gplain flour
• 2 tspbaking powder
• 1 tspbicarbonate of soda
• 2 tbspcaster sugar
• 300 mlbuttermilk
• 2large eggs
• 80 gunsalted butter, a little reserved for greasing, the rest melted
• 1lime, zest and juice

Method

1. 1Cut the cooked smoked brisket into 2 cm chunks and set aside. The bark already carries the smoky flavour; it does not need searing again.
2. 2Tear the ancho chillies into rough pieces and toast them in a dry pan over medium heat for 30–60 seconds a side, pressing down with a spatula until they puff and smell toasty. Pull them the moment you catch a sharp acrid note; burnt chillies turn the whole pot bitter. Tip into a bowl with the chipotles and adobo, pour over the hot beef stock, and leave to soak for 15 minutes until the anchos are soft and pliable. Blend smooth with a stick blender. This is your chilli paste.
3. 3While the chillies soak, in a heavy casserole, warm the 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers with a good pinch of salt and cook for 10–12 minutes until the onions are translucent and the peppers have softened and started to catch at the edges; that edge colour is sweetness, don't rush it. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant and pale gold. Don't let it go past that.
4. 4Stir in the tomato purée, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano and black pepper. Toast the spices and purée together in the fat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. You'll see the tomato purée darken from bright red to brick. That colour shift is your cue.
5. 5Pour in the blended chilli paste, the chopped tomatoes and a splash of water to swill out the blender; the liquid is what breaks the tinned tomatoes down so they taste of fruit, not heated tin. Add the sugar, cider vinegar, the brisket chunks. Bring to a gentle simmer, drop the heat to low, cover partially, and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the brisket is tender and steaming hot throughout. Stir every 20 minutes and add another splash of water if it looks tight.
6. 6Meanwhile, make the cornbread. Heat the oven to 200°C fan and use a little of the measured butter to grease a 23 cm cast-iron pan or square baking tin. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, bicarb, the 1 tsp fine salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a jug, whisk the buttermilk, eggs and remaining melted butter. Pour wet into dry and fold just until combined; overmixing builds gluten and you get cake instead of crumble. Tip into the buttered tin and bake for 22–25 minutes, until the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean. Rest 10 minutes before cutting.
7. 7When the meat is tender, stir in the kidney and pinto beans and simmer for 10 minutes to warm through. Whisk the masa harina with 4 tbsp cold water to a smooth slurry, stir it through the chilli, and simmer another 5 minutes; the masa thickens the sauce and adds a sweet corn note that ties the bowl to the cornbread. Stir in the lime zest and juice. Taste and adjust the salt; you want it deeply savoury with a low chilli heat building at the back.
8. 8Ladle the chilli into warm bowls and tuck a warm wedge of cornbread alongside each one.

Per serving

kcal

902

protein

42.6g

fibre

10.8g

carbs

88.2g

fat

43.9g