Stifado

This is stolen off the internet but with a few changes.

Beef Stifado


Preparation time: 30 mins / Cooking time: at least 3 hours

Ingredients

The following recipe will feed 6 hungry guests!

# 1.5 Kgs Stewing or chuck steak
# 100g plain flour
# At least 1/2 bottle of good, rich red wine, ruby port or sweet red
vermouth
# 2 Tbsp (30ml) red wine vinegar
# 3 Cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
# 800g baby onions or shallots
# Olive oil for frying
# 1 cinnamon stick, the Mexican unwashed is best about 3 inches.
# 3 Bay leaves
# 8-10 allspice berries
# 3 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" is
about right. Season the flour with plenty of black pepper and a bit of
salt, and coat the chunks of beef. In a fairly hot pan, heat the olive
oil and when hot, fry your 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. Put into a large casserole or a pot with a lid when done.

Add some more oil to the pan and fry the onions (chopped in half if
they're too big) over a medium heat until they start to brown - about 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, 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 brimming casserole and whack it into the oven.
Grab yourself the other half bottle of wine and marinate your throat and
stomach in it. Occasionally disturb yourself to give the stifado a stir.
It will take at least 3 hours to cook, but 4 will be better and 5 won't
hurt it! When it's done, the meat should be very tender and the sauce
nice and thick.

"Marianne Kristiansen" <mixelite@m> wrote in message
news:1cbirbj0ngc3b.lp84ltbw7mx$.dlg@40tude.net...
> On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 07:39:20 +0100, Elaine skrev:
>
> > I've tried over the years adding in other herbs - oregano, thyme, etc
and
> > also a pinch of cinnamon. It doesn't quite taste "right" to me, but
ymmv.
>
> I thought Stifado was supposed to taste of cinnamon?
>
> --
So did I, but personally I've found that the cloves give the right effect on
their own. You could always try making it without cinnamon and then add a
bit in near the end if you want more spiceyness.

Elaine

"Marianne Kristiansen" <mixelite@m> wrote in message
news:6aq0rux0eyau$.1o3bcyk95btgs$.dlg@40tude.net.. .
> On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 09:32:31 +0100, Elaine skrev:
>
> > You could always try making it without cinnamon and then add a
> > bit in near the end if you want more spiceyness.
>
> But I like the smell of cinnamon from the plate when it is brought to the
> table :-)
>
Are you sure you're not confusing the smell of cinnamon with the smell of
cloves? Both give a warm spicey aroma, but somehow, cinnamon adds a bit too
much sweetness to the flavour for my taste.

"Marianne Kristiansen" <mixelite@m> wrote in message
news:1kofqnmpdtdwb.wp4wbrvth3su.dlg@40tude.net...

> I would have to as my taverna to be sure, but I am _pretty_ sure it is the
> smell of Cinnamon I get in my nose. I remember asking a greek friend one
of
> the first times we were down there. I knew there was _something_ but
> couldn't grasp what. She said cinnamon without hesitation. I have always
> since assumed that that is the common spice for Stifado.
>
I suppose it's a matter of taste really, but I know that just about every
stifado I've had in Greece has contained cloves, because they're fairly easy
to spot on the plate and even easier ro spot if you happen to put one into
your mouth by mistake :-(

"Marianne Kristiansen" <mixelite@m> wrote in message
news:chg30g62fmwg$.1iege3d45ybyi$.dlg@40tude.net.. .
> :-D Maybe it is a matter of where you are in Greece as well as taste?

I think you're right there. As you know, I mainly go to the Ionians and the
dishes I've eaten there don't always match recipes I find in Greek cookery
books. For example, they don't put mint in tsatsiki, although a lot of
recipes seem to include it and moussaka almost always has a layer of thinly
sliced potatoes between the meat and the bechamel sauce, although this
doesn't appear in a lot of recipes.

Elaine

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 07:39:20 +0100, "Elaine"
<elliebobs@clysbarton.freeservedotcodotuk> wrote:
>
>I've tried over the years adding in other herbs - oregano, thyme, etc and
>also a pinch of cinnamon. It doesn't quite taste "right" to me, but ymmv.
>
You can't have authentic stifado without plenty of cinnamon! You have
to be able to taste the cinnamon as well as the onions. (When you
think you've put in enough onions, put in half as many more!) And
simmer it until the meat falls apart on its own.

O/H Jason Ýãñáøå:
> Hi folks does anybody have a really good recipe for beef stifado, i am
> making my second version this evening, i am trying to get a really good
> recipe for bonfire night to serve with some nice crusty fresh bread and
> Thyme and Oregeno potatoes. so if anybody has a good recipe can you send it
> to me please.
>
> Also anybody have a recipe for Ekmek!
>
> Please can you send them to jason040270m and mark them recipes
>
> Cheers
>
>
> Jason
>
>
Stifado is the classic way to cook a rabbit in Greece.