Ingredients
- 1 kg beef stewing meat
- 500 gram shallots are small onions
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 cloves
- a few allspice berries
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 large garlic cloves
- few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon oregano (fresh or dried)
- 1 cube of beef stock
- 1 can of tomato paste (140 gram)
- 1 can of tomato chunks (400 gram)
- 1 glass of dry red wine (about 100 ml)
- 50 ml red wine vinegar
- about 100 ml water
- olive oil
- pepper and salt to taste
Kitchen equipment needed
- cutting board & chef’s knife
- Dutch oven with a lid
- wooden spoon
Preparation — 15 minutes
Peel the shallots or small onion, you can use them whole or divide them in halves. Make sure they won’t fall apart so keep the ends attached. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves.
Remove any excess fat or muscles from the beef, but make sure you don’t cut off too much because thus will give extra flavour. Cut the meat into not too large pieces and season with salt and pepper.
Finishing the Greek Stifado — 2 hours and 10 minutes
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven and brown the meat on all sides. Don’t overcrowd the pan, so it’s best to cook them in batches. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl and sauté the shallots about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the meat back to the pan and then also cook the tomato paste and garlic cloves for a few minutes.
Deglaze with red wine and red wine vinegar and then also add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, rosemary and oregano. Stir well and then add the tomato chunks along with cube of beef stock and water.
Turn down the heat and place a lid on the pan. Let it simmer gently for about 2 hours. The stew is done when the meat is beautiful tender. Remove the herbs and serve this stew with some potatoes. Enjoy!
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