Inauthentic Greek Stew Food

BEEF STIFADO RECIPE (GREEK BEEF STEW)

Steps:

• To prepare this delicious Greek beef stifado recipe, heat the oil in a saucepan, add the meat (in batches) and sauté, until browned on all sides. Do not add all the meat in the sauce pan, rather sauté in batches, so that the temperature of the oil remains high and the meat is sealed. When done, remove with a slotted spoon, place on a platter, cover and set aside.
• Peel and carve the baby shallot onions crosswise, add in the same oil used to browned the meat, turn down to medium heat and sauté until the onions have softened, but not browned (about 10 minutes).
• Pour in the cognac, the wine and red wine vinegar, cover and let it simmer for 3 minutes.
• Pour the meat along with its juices to the saucepan, add the tomato paste and sauté. Add the chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, allspice berries, nutmeg and a bit of water until the meat is covered. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer the beef stifado with a lid on for 1 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened. While the beef stifado is simmering, check if it needs some water; you don't want it to dry out. If it does, pour in half a cup of boiled water and stir. Towards the end of cooking time season well with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve beef stifado with pasta and grated cheese, or boiled new potatoes. Enjoy!

OLD FASHIONED BEEF STEW WITH EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven top 325 F.
• Cut the eggplant cubes. Oil a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
• Add the eggplant pieces to the baking sheet. Brush a little olive oil on top of each eggplant cube. Season with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of oregano. Bake cubes for 30 to 45 min or until eggplant flesh is soft and a light golden color. When done remove baking sheet with eggplants from oven and set aside.
• Dry the beef pieces well using a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly dust 1 - 2 tbsp all purpose flour all over beef.
• In a large pot heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Brown the beef, a few pieces at a time all over, about 2-3 minutes. Remove beef pieces on a plate and set aside.
• Add the onion. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 1-2 min. Add the garlic, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg and oregano. Stir and sauté for 2 minutes
• Add the tomatoes. Gently crush them to eliminate any big chunks. Mix well. Add the beef, 1/2 cup of water, some fresh thyme and oregano sprigs. Stir gently, cover and simmer in low heat for 1 hour.
• Add eggplant pieces to the stew. Stir gently, cover and simmer for another 30 to 45 min or until beef is soft and almost falling apart with a fork. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. and serve.

GREEK STEW

Steps:

• Prepare a Dutch oven or large pot with cooking spray. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until onion soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove onion mixture to a bowl.
• Heat remaining olive oil in the pot again over medium heat. Cook chicken in hot oil, turning a few times, until browned, about 5 minutes.
• Pour wine over the chicken; bring to a simmer and cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 15 minutes.
• Stir onion mixture, tomato sauce, black pepper, lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, and cinnamon with the simmering chicken; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, place a cover on the pot, and cook at a simmer until the chicken is easily pulled apart, about 1 hour.

GREEK-STYLE BEEF STEW (STIFADO)

Steps:

• Place beef in a bowl and season generously with pepper and kosher salt. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use; up to 1 day is fine.
• Leaving the root ends in place, cut off the shallot tops. Remove and discard skins.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add ½ of the beef and cook until nicely seared, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and repeat to sear remaining beef.
• Turn off the heat and add 1 tablespoon oil to the empty skillet. Add shallots and let the skillet cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat back on to medium and toss shallots until browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove shallots to a plate.
• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet with onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt; cook and stir for about 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook until toasted, about 2 minutes. Add red wine vinegar and white wine and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Increase heat to medium-high and add sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, oregano, bay leaves, and rosemary sprigs. Stir to combine and cook until reduced by about half, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add browned beef and shallots to the skillet and toss carefully until coated. Pour in 2 cups beef broth and bring to a simmer.
• Reduce heat to low or medium-low. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 1 hour, then uncover and cook for at least 1 more hour, stirring occasionally to move the beef and shallots around. Add more broth if needed during the cooking time and skim off some fat if preferred. The meat is done when a fork slides in easily, but the meat isn't falling apart on its own; it may take longer than 2 hours.
• Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.

INAUTHENTIC GREEK STEW

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion, finely chopped.
• Allow the onion to soften on a medium heat for about 10 minutes. Slightly caramelise but don't allow to become brown or crispy.
• Add the minced lamb to the frying pan and turn up the heat a bit. Fry the mixture, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until the lamb is browned. Or you could use quorn in which case omit this step- see step 5.
• Drain off some of the oil and put the mince and onions into a large saucepan.
• Add the tin of tomatoes, the purees and the spinach. If you are using quorn add at this stage, and you'll need a bit more water. Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes until the spinach is defrosted and heated through, stirring often (or you can use fresh spinach, which may be quicker).
• Drain and rinse the tin of chickpeas. Add them, and the lemon juice, to the pot and continue to simmer until they are warmed through and the sauce has thickened to your preferred consistency.
• Taste and season to your preference. You might like to use a little sugar to balance the sharp flavours, but the tomato puree should hopefully have done that already. Serve with hearty bread if you like. My soda bread is perfect! This also tastes great reheated the next day.

GREEK STYLE BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a 5-quart pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add half the beef; cook and stir until well browned on all sides. Remove beef with a slotted spoon and set aside. Brown the remaining meat and set aside.
• Place chopped onion in the pressure cooker; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the garlic and stir for an additional minute. Pour in the red wine, red wine vinegar, and beef broth; stir in the tomato paste and mix well.
• Grind or crush rosemary, oregano, and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Add crushed spices to the cooker with bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and brown sugar.
• Pour in tomatoes and their juice; rinse the can with 1/2 cup water and add the water to the cooker. Stir in potatoes and carrots. Return the browned meat to the pressure cooker. A 5-quart pot should be about half full and a little soupy; the potato will dissolve a bit and thicken it after cooking. Cover the pot and seal the lid.
• Bring the pot up to high pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let the pressure reduce naturally. Taste the stew and add salt, if desired.

GREEK FISHERMAN'S STEW

Steps:

• Warm oil in a 4-quart saucepan or casserole over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until soft but not brown. Add fennel and cook a few minutes, until softened. Stir in chile flakes. Add tomatoes and salt, cover and cook on medium about 10 minutes.
• Stir in wine and 2 1/2 cups water, bring to a simmer, add potatoes and cook another 6 minutes or so, until potatoes are tender. Check seasonings, adding salt and pepper to taste. Add lemon juice.
• Season fish pieces with salt and pepper, place them in the stew and simmer on low, covered, until fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, warm 6 generous soup plates.
• When fish is done, remove it to the warm soup plates. Remove pot from heat, stir in basil, just to wilt it, and divide soup among the 6 plates. Serve spiced mayonnaise alongside if desired.

ONE-POT BEEF STIFADO

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a flameproof casserole over a medium-high heat and brown the beef all over, removing it to a plate with a slotted spoon as you go (you may need to do this in batches). Drizzle the rest of the oil into the pan. Peel the onions (but leave whole) and add to the pan, then scatter over the sugar. Sizzle for 5 mins, stirring now and then until starting to brown. Add the garlic, bay, cinnamon stick, allspice, cloves and oregano, and cook for 1 min more. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for another minute, then tip in the beef along with any resting juices. Stir to coat in the spiced onion mixture.
• Add the red wine vinegar and chopped tomatoes. Rinse the cans out with the wine and pour it in, then add a third of a can of water. Season with salt and stir well. Bring to a simmer, stir again, then cover with the lid and transfer to the oven for 1 hr.
• Remove from the oven and stir again. If the sauce looks very thick, add a splash more water. Cover again and return to the oven for another hour, or until the meat is fork-tender - the timing will depend on the cut you've used. Serve hot. To get ahead, leave to cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container and chill for up to three days or freeze for up to three months. Defrost completely in the fridge overnight, then reheat in a pan over a low heat with a splash more water to loosen, if needed.