Beautiful Beef Stifado
Stifado, for those of you who don't know, is a traditional Greek dish served up by virtually every Greek islander. It's a meaty stew, in this case beef, with a rich, red wine based gravy and slightly sweet whole roasted shallots.
Quite possibly the ultimate winter comfort food, I like to make this for Sunday Dinner with a pile of crispy roast potatoes to mop up the gravy and a top quality Greek style salad to bring an element of freshness (see this recipe for inspiration). As with all slow cooked meals, the meat becomes incredibly flaky and it literally melts in your mouth. Although I've used beef, this recipe would work equally well with lamb, rabbit, venison or any kind of game.
Beautiful Beef Stifado
Serves 6
100ml olive oil
1kg of lean beef, cubed
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp of tomato puree
5 garlic cloves, crushed
4 beef stock cubes
400ml red wine
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tsp of ground nutmeg
4 bay leaves
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
2 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
500g shallots
black pepper
salt
1.5kg potatoes, peeled, roughly chopped and boiled for 7 minutes
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Place a large roasting tray over a high heat, add half of the olive oil and then add the beef until coloured on all sides. Add the onions, garlic and tomato puree, stir everything well and then turn the heat down to medium and cook until onions start to go soft (about 5 minutes). Add the red wine, red wine vinegar then leave to reduce for 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon, stock cubes, nutmeg, bay leaves, rosemary, salt and pepper. Pour over 1/4 litre boiling water, cover with foil and then put the stifado into the pre-heated and cook for 2 hours.
Meanwhile place the shallots into boiling water to soften the skin (about 5 minutes). Peel, then fry them in a little olive oil, being careful not to burn them, just aim to soften them and add a little colour. Once the stifado has been cooking for 2 hours, add the shallots to the roasting tin, adding more water if needed, and then cook for a further hour.
At this point, put the remaining olive oil in a roasting tray and place in the oven. After 15 minutes, add the par-boiled potatoes along with a good amount of salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes.
Serve the stifado with the roast potatoes along with a greek salad (and broccoli if you want!).
Quite possibly the ultimate winter comfort food, I like to make this for Sunday Dinner with a pile of crispy roast potatoes to mop up the gravy and a top quality Greek style salad to bring an element of freshness (see this recipe for inspiration). As with all slow cooked meals, the meat becomes incredibly flaky and it literally melts in your mouth. Although I've used beef, this recipe would work equally well with lamb, rabbit, venison or any kind of game.
Beautiful Beef Stifado
Serves 6100ml olive oil
1kg of lean beef, cubed
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp of tomato puree
5 garlic cloves, crushed
4 beef stock cubes
400ml red wine
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tsp of ground nutmeg
4 bay leaves
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
2 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
500g shallots
black pepper
salt
1.5kg potatoes, peeled, roughly chopped and boiled for 7 minutes
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Place a large roasting tray over a high heat, add half of the olive oil and then add the beef until coloured on all sides. Add the onions, garlic and tomato puree, stir everything well and then turn the heat down to medium and cook until onions start to go soft (about 5 minutes). Add the red wine, red wine vinegar then leave to reduce for 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon, stock cubes, nutmeg, bay leaves, rosemary, salt and pepper. Pour over 1/4 litre boiling water, cover with foil and then put the stifado into the pre-heated and cook for 2 hours.
Meanwhile place the shallots into boiling water to soften the skin (about 5 minutes). Peel, then fry them in a little olive oil, being careful not to burn them, just aim to soften them and add a little colour. Once the stifado has been cooking for 2 hours, add the shallots to the roasting tin, adding more water if needed, and then cook for a further hour.
At this point, put the remaining olive oil in a roasting tray and place in the oven. After 15 minutes, add the par-boiled potatoes along with a good amount of salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes.
Serve the stifado with the roast potatoes along with a greek salad (and broccoli if you want!).
Comments
Post a Comment