Stefado Greek Beef Stew With Small Onions Recipes

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!

DOROTHY'S STEFADO

Steps:

• In a large soup pot, cook beef in oil until beef is browned. Remove beef, and set aside. Mix sugar into the drippings, add onions, and cook until golden. Remove onions from pan.
• Return beef to the pot, and place onions on top. Mix the tomato paste, wine, and wine vinegar together, and add to saucepan. Place the garlic, pickling spices, bay leaf, cinnamon, and rosemary in a spice bag; add to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cover, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, adding more liquid if necessary.

GREEK BEEF STEW WITH ONIONS (STIFADO)

Steps:

• Start by washing the beef under running water. Pat the meat dry and dice it into even chunks of approximately 150gr weight.
• In a large pot add 1L water, the diced meat and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Let them boil over medium heat for approximately 50-60 minutes. This long boiling process will render the meat soft which will melt in your mouth.
• When the meat starts to boil , a white froth will appear in the water in the first 10-15 minutes. Be sure to remove this and continue to allow the meat to boil.
• Meanwhile, start preparing the onions or shallots. This recipe calls for a lot of onions so be ready for this part. Remove the skin of the onions and wash them under a running tap. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Washing the onions will mellow their flavour.
• Chop the ends of the onions which harbour the most sulphuric compounds that can tear your eyes. Continue by halving the onions and then chopping them rather thick into 1.5cm chunks. The onions need to be chopped rather thick as they will be cooked for a rather long time. Thinly sliced onion will simply disintegrate in the pot.
• In another pot, pour olive oil over medium to high heat. As soon as the oil is ready, add a small to medium amount of onions, approximately 3-4 onions and the garlic cloves. Add paprika and sugar and sauté the onions for a couple of minutes.
• Continue by adding onions very 3-4 minutes into the pot until you had added all the onions. Stir continuously throughout these steps. These whole process will last for approximately 15-20 minutes.
• It is now time to add tomato paste, tomatoes, red wine, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt and allspice.
• By this time the meat will have boiled sufficiently. Strain the meat and keep the water in which the meat boiled. This would now be your meat stock to add in the stew.
• Pour the meat stock in the pot with your onions until all your onions are covered by it.
• Let the onions boil with the beef stock for 15 minutes.
• Continue by adding the meat. If you feel that there is not enough water/stock in your pot, please add enough to cover the meat.
• Add red wine vinegar and boil the stew over medium heat for 25-30 minutes.
• After 10 minutes or so you can add the dried prunes.
• Taste the stew for seasoning and add if necessary.

BEEF STIFADO (GREEK BEEF & ONION STEW)

Steps:

• In a pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the peeled onions.
• Sauté for 5-10 minutes or until golden and soft.
• Remove the onions and set aside.
• Brown the beef in two batches in the pot.
• Do not add all the beef at once into the pot otherwise it will create too much steam and it will not brown properly.
• Do this in 2-3 batches.
• ​Place all of the browned beef back into the pot.
• Add all of the ingredients except the onions.
• Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer.​
• Simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the beef is tender.
• Check the seasoning and add some more salt if needed.​
• Add the onions to the pot and shake it a bit so that they can settle in the stew.
• Stirring may cause them to fall apart.
• Simmer for 30 minutes more.​
• Serve with rice, hearty bread or mashed potatoes.​
• Enjoy!

STIFADO - TRADITIONAL BEEF STEW WITH SHALLOTS

Steps:

• Add a generous splash of olive oil in a cooking pot and heat over high heat.
• Brown the beef chunks on all sides. Do this by adding the meat in the pot in batches. So the temperature of the oil won't drop, and the meat sill sear properly. After you're done with the first batch, remove the meat from the pot and then add the next batch. Once all the meat is seared and browned all over, add it all back in the pot.
• Pour in 2-3 cups of semi-sweet red wine, and 2-3 cups of water in the pot. The amount of both liquids should be just enough to cover the meat. So whether you're using a wider or more narrow cooking pot you should adjust the amount to 2 or 3 cups (each) accordingly.
• Add the allspice, cloves, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves. Season with kosher salt and ground pepper.
• Reduce heat to low and cover the pot with its lid. Slow cook for approximately 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, cut off the tops and bottoms of the shallots and remove their skins. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let them soak for about 30 minutes and then drain in a strainer. This is done to remove some of their sharp acidity.
• After the meat has slowly cooked for 2 hours, prick with a knife to make sure it's tender enough. Otherwise, cook a bit more.
• Add a splash of olive oil in a skillet or frying pan, and heat over medium-high heat. Toss in the shallots and cook until deep golden all over. Stir in 2 loaded tablespoons of tomato paste, and cook for 2 minutes more, while stirring constantly using a wooden spoon. Pour a good splash of water in the pan to help scrape off the paste from the pan and then add everything in the pot with the meat.
• Shake the pot for the shallots to spread evenly, and once you make sure there is enough liquid in the pot to almost cover everything, slow cook (covered) for another 45-50 minutes.
• Serve with freshly ground pepper on top!

STEFADO (GREEK BEEF STEW WITH SMALL ONIONS)

Steps:

• Brown beef cubs in olive oil in a large Dutch oven.
• Remove and set aside.
• Mix sugar into the drippings and add the onions, cooking until golden.
• Return beef to the pot.
• Mix in tomato paste, wine, wine vinegar, garlic, dill seed and rosemary.
• Place cinnamon and bay leaf in a spice bag of cheesecloth (or just add it and remember to fish them out of the stew later).
• Cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until tender (I usually have to add about a cup of water about halfway through).
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Alternatively, you can bake this at 275 degrees F in your oven; adjust times accordingly, if needed.

GREEK BEEF STEW

Steps:

• In a heavy kettle, brown meat in butter.
• Season lightly with salt and pepper.
• Add chopped onion and saute until clear.
• Mix in tomato paste, vinegar, garlic and half of the water.
• Add bay leaf.
• Cover and simmer 1 hour, adding additional water as needed.
• Add white onions and mushrooms.
• Cover and simmer 1 more hour or until meat and onions are tender.
• Add cheese, cover and cook 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

STIFATHO: BEEF AND ONION STEW

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a stew pot, lightly brown the meat in olive oil.
• Add remaining ingredients and enough water to cover, plus 1 inch. Stir to mix with a wooden spoon . Bring to a rolling boil and immediately reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 3 to 4 hours without stirring, until only a sauce remains.
• Serve and enjoy!