Beef Stifado
I’m bringing a little bit of Greece into your gardens this summer with this delicious beef hot pot, which will feed a crowd. Stifado is traditional Greek Stew made with beef, onions and tomatoes. Add in a few herbs and spices, red wine vinegar and red wine, give it a long slow cook and you’ll have meat that melts in your mouth. Just remember to remind your BBQ guests that there are some whole cloves in there if you can’t find them to take them out before you dish up! It just needs a hot steaming bowl of new potatoes dotted with butter and parsley to go with it.
Ingredients
SERVES 8
1kg stewing beef
550g baby onions or round shallots
4 large vine ripened tomatoes, chopped (or a tin of chopped tomatoes)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
5 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 dried bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp dried oregano
3 strips of orange peel
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
250ml red wine
6 whole cloves
Olive oil for frying
Method
1. First you need to marinate the beef. Trim and cut the beef, if needed. You want bite sized pieces. Put the beef into a large bowl and add all the marinade ingredients. Leave in the fridge, covered for at least 6 hours or overnight.
2. When you are ready to cook, set up your BBQ for direct cooking. You will need a large heavy-based pan with a lid for this dish.
3. Peel the onions. To make this easier, place the onions into a bowl, pour over boiling water and leave for 5 minutes. The skins come off quicker. Chop them in half if they are large.
4. Pour a good glug of olive oil into the pan and fry the onions. You will need to do this in batches. Remove with a slotted spoon into a large bowl.
5. Pour out the beef and marinade into a sieve over a large bowl to save the marinade liquid. Set this aside along with the orange peel, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and cloves to add into the pan later.
6. In the same pan you fried the onions, add some more olive oil and sear the meat to brown it. Again, you will need to do this in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. You get much better caramelisation on the pieces of beef if you have fewer pieces in the pan at one time.
7. Remove the beef from the pan and place in with the onions.
8. Once you have browned all the beef, tip the beef and onions back into the pan along with the marinade.
9. Add to this the rest of the ingredients, the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Give it a big stir and bring it up to boil. Add 200ml boiling water.
10. Change your BBQ to indirect cooking and place the pan with a lid onto your grill. You want a temperature of about 130°C and this stew needs to cook for 4 hours. Stir a few times throughout the cook. The beef should be very tender.
11. Check for seasoning. If you wish the liquid to reduce a little, remove the lid from the pan and cook for a further 20 minutes.
12. Serve with new potatoes.
More Recipes Ideas from Sue Stoneman
Method
1. First you need to marinate the beef. Trim and cut the beef, if needed. You want bite sized pieces. Put the beef into a large bowl and add all the marinade ingredients. Leave in the fridge, covered for at least 6 hours or overnight.
2. When you are ready to cook, set up your BBQ for direct cooking. You will need a large heavy-based pan with a lid for this dish.
3. Peel the onions. To make this easier, place the onions into a bowl, pour over boiling water and leave for 5 minutes. The skins come off quicker. Chop them in half if they are large.
4. Pour a good glug of olive oil into the pan and fry the onions. You will need to do this in batches. Remove with a slotted spoon into a large bowl.
5. Pour out the beef and marinade into a sieve over a large bowl to save the marinade liquid. Set this aside along with the orange peel, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and cloves to add into the pan later.
6. In the same pan you fried the onions, add some more olive oil and sear the meat to brown it. Again, you will need to do this in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. You get much better caramelisation on the pieces of beef if you have fewer pieces in the pan at one time.
7. Remove the beef from the pan and place in with the onions.
8. Once you have browned all the beef, tip the beef and onions back into the pan along with the marinade.
9. Add to this the rest of the ingredients, the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Give it a big stir and bring it up to boil. Add 200ml boiling water.
10. Change your BBQ to indirect cooking and place the pan with a lid onto your grill. You want a temperature of about 130°C and this stew needs to cook for 4 hours. Stir a few times throughout the cook. The beef should be very tender.
11. Check for seasoning. If you wish the liquid to reduce a little, remove the lid from the pan and cook for a further 20 minutes.
12. Serve with new potatoes.
