Chocalong Part 2 - Chocolate Glazed Beef Stir Fry

Even though my father is supposed to be retired from farming he still keeps a few cattle on the land. He loves farming and has always said that he could never give it up completely so it has now become more of a hobby for him. These few cattle that he does have are minded like babies. They never seem to need the vet and the land is completely fertilizer free. Last summer these gorgeous cattle would always gather by my vegetable patch keeping an eye on all the activities. Then the time came for the selected few to head off to the local meat factory. At the same time I was buying all my beef from my local butcher. We are lucky in Moate that our butcher has beef that is of fantastic quality but it is even better to have a hand in the raring of the end product. So I bought one of these beasts off my father and my butcher, who has his own abitor, did the nessecary.  It was delivered back to me all packed and labelled ready for the freezer. We have been feasting on this amazing quality beef for the past few months so I have had to come up with a few variations of my regular beef recipes.

Last week I posted my Chocolate Soup as my starter for the monthly Irish Foodies Cookalong. Previously I had a post about my Chocolate Chip Chilli which turned out beautifully, with the chocolate being a delicious addition to the dish.  I decided to come up with another beef dish that may benefit from a little added chocolate. I made a Chocolate Glazed Beef Stir Fry for the main course of the cookalong. So why add chocolate to a stir fry I hear you ask! Well not until I tasted it was I sure if it would work. Only a little chocolate is needed to perfectly coat the beef leaving it with a sllky venier and it was actually quite nice!

Ingredients

350g beef steaks {I used Fillet}

100mls red wine

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic, crushed

sprig rosemary

1 bay leaf

black pepper

20ml olive oil

1 red pepper sliced

1 red onion

handful sliced mushrooms

1 square dark chocolate

50mls cream

handful peanuts

To Serve - Spagetti or egg noodles

Method

1. Marinate the beef: Put the beef in a medium non-metallic bowl and cover with the red wine, red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, black pepper and olive oil. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes, or if you have the time, overnight.

2. Stir fry: Heat a small dry wok until it's very hot. Tip in the beef, marinade, red pepper, red onion and the mushrooms, stir fry for 5 minutes.

3. Add the cream and the chocolate and stir to coat well.

4. Serve with cooked spagetti or egg noodles and sprinkle over some crushed peanuts.

Photos & styling by Nessa Robins.