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My wife and I are practically vegetarian, but on our annual trips to Greece we confess to having a hankering for this particular dish, as the beef is so tender and melts in the mouth. The wine to wash it down with is entirely optional but in our case essential when we are in Greece!
Preparation time: 35 mins / Cooking time: at least 3.45 hours
Ingredients
The following recipe will feed 6 people
1.5 Kgs Stewing steak
100g plain flour
At least 1/2 bottle of good, full bodied red wine
2 Tbsp (30ml) red wine vinegar
3 Cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
800g baby onions or shallots
Olive oil for frying
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
3 Bay leaves
1 tsp ground allspice
2 Tbsp tomato puree
200ml beef stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 160 deg C / Gas mark 3
Cut your beef into large chunks, the bigger the better, but around 2.5 inches is about right. Season the flour with plenty of black pepper and a pinch of salt, and coat the chunks of beef. In a fairly hot pan, heat the olive oil and when hot, fry the chunks of beef until sealed on all sides and slighty browned. These can be done in batches of a few at a time if required. Place into a large casserole when done.
Add some more oil to the pan and fry the onions over a medium heat until they start to brown - about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute. Put this into the casserole with the beef. Pour the wine into the pan, add the red wine vinegar, cinnamon, ground allspice and heat until it just begins to boil. Add this to the casserole along with the beef stock and the bayleaves. Stir in the tomato puree.
Put the lid onto your casserole and place it into the oven. Give the stifado a stir occaisionally. It will take at least 3 to 4 hours to cook, the longer the better but no more than 5. When it’s cooked properly, the meat should be very tender and the sauce nice and thick.
Traditionally, this dish is served with crusty bread to mop up the gravy, but it’s also great with a few veg and saute potatoes coated in Rosemary.
Enjoy.
And to wash it down!
Source: capybara