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Beef stifado
Μοσχάρι στιφάδο (moschari stifado): beef and baby onions slow-cooked with cinnamon, bay and tomato
Stifado is the Sunday stew of Greek home cooks, especially in winter, and on islands like Corfu and Crete it fills village tavernas long before lunch. Chunks of beef braise slowly with a mountain of whole small onions, tomato, cinnamon, cloves and bay until the onions turn sweet and jammy. Traditionally red wine and red wine vinegar go in; this recipe uses wine, but you can swap it for the same amount of beef stock plus an extra tablespoon of vinegar and lose nothing important. Serve with crusty bread, rice or orzo. Chef's tip: use as many onions by weight as meat; the onions are the point of the dish, not a garnish.
- Total time
- 175 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the stew
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Pour boiling water over the 1 ¾ lb small onions or shallots, leave 2 minutes, drain and slip off the skins; this makes peeling small onions much easier. Trim the roots but leave the base so they stay whole.
10 minStep 2: Pat the 2 ¼ lb beef chuck or shin dry with kitchen paper. Heat half the 2 tbsp olive oil in a heavy casserole over a high heat and brown the meat in 2–3 batches, 4–5 minutes a batch, until deep brown on all sides. Lift onto a plate.
15 minStep 3: Lower the heat to medium, add the rest of the 2 tbsp olive oil and the onions and fry for 8 minutes, shaking the pan, until golden in patches. Add 4 cloves garlic and 2 tbsp tomato purée and stir for 1 minute.
9 minStep 4: Pour in the ¾ cup dry red wine (or stock) and 3 tbsp red wine vinegar and let it bubble for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan. Return the beef and its juices with 14 oz chopped tomatoes, 1 ¼ cups hot water, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, 5 allspice berries, 3 bay leaves, 1 tsp sugar, 1 ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper.
4 minStep 5: Bring to a simmer, cover tightly and cook over a very low heat for 2 hours, or in the oven at 325°F. Shake the pot now and then rather than stirring, so the onions don't break up.
120 minStep 6: The stew is ready when the beef breaks apart with a spoon and the sauce is thick and glossy. A common mistake is boiling it hard; the meat tightens and goes stringy, so keep it at a lazy bubble. If the sauce is thin, uncover for the last 15 minutes.
10 minStep 7: Fish out the cinnamon and bay, taste for salt and rest off the heat for 10 minutes. It tastes even better the next day; cool within 2 hours, keep in the fridge up to 3 days and reheat until piping hot.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 52 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does beef stifado take?
- About 175 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 150 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of small onions or shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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