On this week's Friday Food dish from Chef Gareth Mullins we are going for some spice and comfort which can be batch cooked and frozen.

It can also be cooked in a slow cooker if you have one. The chilli beef is the star of the show here and adding the polenta is the ‘chef’s trick’ that makes the sauce creamy and the perfect texture, It’s worth the effort to make the salsa, guacamole and sour cream as all these mellow out the spices. The crispy flour tortilla add great texture. I also like to serve this with some steamed rice. This is proper weekend cooking!

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 2 red onions diced finely
• 2 cloves garlic diced finely
• 3 sticks of celery diced finely
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 bottle of lager
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 1 tin of washed kidney beans
• 4 tablespoons tomato purée
• 3 tablespoons semolina or fine polenta
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon coriander
• ½ chilli

Method

1. Sear off the beef mince in a hot heavy based pan until roasted and brown. Then take out and set to one side.
2. In the same pan, add a splash olive oil, then onions, garlic and celery and sauté until soft.
3. Add the spices and sauté for 2 minutes to release the flavours from the spices.
4. Add the beef back to the pan along with the lager, tomatoes & stock
5. Place a lid on and cook on a low heat until mix is tick and beef is soft and tender.
6. Now add the tomato purée and polenta and cook for further 20 minutes.
7. Cut 4 flour tortillas into 8 triangles each and lay them on a tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in a 150°C oven until crisp.

Some optional toppings include:

Tomato Salsa

• punnet cherry tomatoes – chopped
• 1 table spoons chopped jalapeños
• 3 spring onions chopped finely
• ½ clove garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander and mint
• 1 lime juiced

Chive Sour Cream

• 250ml sour cream
• Chopped chives
• Juice ½ lemon
• Salt and pepper

Guacamole

• 2 ripe avocados – peeled, deseeded and chopped or mashed
• 1 chilli chopped
• 1 lime juiced
• 3 tablespoons chopped coriander
• 2 spring onions chopped
• Salt and pepper

Friday Food on The Pat Kenny Show with Gareth Mullins Executive Chef of The Anantara Marker Hotel. Follow Gareth on Instagram.

All with thanks to Cully & Sully.

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