Cooler weather demands comfort food. And lots of red wine! That’s my motto and I’m sticking to it! Seriously though, that’s probably the best part about winter. The stews, braises and casseroles. This time around I wanted to attempt that classic Greek dish called “stifado“. It’s a one pot aromatic stew utilising baby onions, red wine vinegar and cinnamon to a name a few ingredients. This dish traditionally uses wild hare (usually hunted by and army of Greek uncles!) or rabbit. My friend Peter a.k.a. “Kalofagas” made a stifado using rabbit and you can read his very informative and entertaining post here.
I had purchased a whole heap of chuck steak from the butchers recently and preferred to use this in my preparation of this dish. Chuck steak is ideal (and a very cheap cut of meat) for stewing and braising because “it contains a lot of connective tissue including collagen. Collagen melts during the cooking of the meat, making the flavor intensely stronger” Source: Wikipedia. I also substituted whole eschalots instead of baby onions. The main trick with stifado is to marinate your meat, preferably overnight, to really enjoy it’s distinctive strong aroma. Once cooked it all comes together beautifully. It’s hearty, rich and very satisfying!
RECIPE FOR BEEF STIFADO (adapted from “Modern Greek” by Andy Harris
- 1 kg of cubed chuck steak
- 750 grams of whole peeled eschalots
- 1 heaped tablespoon of tomato paste
- FOR THE MARINADE:
- 3/4 cup of red wine
- 4 tbsps of red wine vinegar
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 whole cloves
- 2 teaspoons of allspice berries
- salt and freshly cracked pepper
- Place the chuck steak in a non reactive bowl along with the marinade and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or preferably overnight.
- Heat some olive oil in a large sauce pan and saute the eschalots for about 10 mins. We want them to soften a little and get lovely and caramelised. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Saute the chuck steak until it has browned in the same saucepan. Add the onions back along with the marinade mixture, the tomato paste and enough water to cover everything.
- Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for about 2 hours or until the sauce has a lovely rich, thick consistency.
- Serve with some plain steamed rice and a big glass of Aussie shiraz!
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Fabulous! Both the pictures and the recipe are wonderful! Yummy! I love that warm brown color…
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh man, I know you had 2 servings of this but for the purposes of not having your readers call you an Oinker – you held back with the serving size! lol
That sauce, the cinnamon, the sweet onions all take one to a warmer place. Thank you for the shout out and please, do open another bottle of red.
It’s gorgeous! Beautiful photos. I’ve always wanted to make this, and really, have no reason not to. Thank you for sharing!
This looks amazing Peter. While we were in Greece we’ve seen many chicken stifado’s on the menu but I’ve always wondered why it is called a stifado. Is that a way of preparing something? Or is it just the greek name for stew?
That’s a motto to live by, Peter!
i LOVE the photo witrh the empty ramekin dish – and pass on some of that cooler weather to us, will you, cos it’s boiling here, i tell you…
I was going to comment on how appealing I found the photos because of the small serving till I read Peter M’s comment. He outed you! But I know I could never be satisfied with one portion of this tasty and beautifully presented stifado. While I’m not averse to rabbit, I think I would prefer it as you present it with this beautifully stewed beef.
Wow Peter, that looks like a perfect winter warmer to me…. looks like I might have to make the Chinese version too!
One of my favorite dishes, Peter. Looks so comforting and delicious.
Mmmmm, red wine and cinnamon – an Aussie shiraz sounds lovely! That chuck looks like it just melts in your mouth.
hearty and full of flavor. peter this is incredible. so when are you inviting me for the glass of wine and some of this?
Even though it is hotter than hell here in Seattle, this still looks like something I want to eat. Fabulous work mate. Such clean crisp photography, and a great recipe.
Wonderful “stufato di manzo”, I would have never suspected that it was a greek recipe too. The more I read your recipes, the more I feel at home, LOL.
Great shots btw, but they usually are of this such high quality that it almost “ça va sans dir”.
That sauce looks/sounds so good! I bet it would go great with any kind of stew meat! YUM!
This meat are perfect for those kind of dishes,they also are very tasty I can´t use rabbit as Peter This dish is fabulous for autumn and winter. And I agree with you, With a good glass of Australian or maybe an Argentine red wine to warm up the bones.
Que bueno Peter!!!! And your pictures…. How can you improve them post by post? It’s amazing!!! You were truly inspired here – with the food and the photos – que maravilla!!!
I love stews and your creation must have been soooooo delicious. I should try it with that marinade
… Mmmmmm. It reminds me a bit of Rabo de Toro stew.
This looks divine. it reminds me of a rabbit dish my parents used to make when I was growing up in Albania. They did not use cinnamon though. Beautiful photographs, as always. Keep warm.
I love the use of cinnamon and other spices in this dish. It sounds warm and comforting. This is the first time I’ve heard of it. It looks delicious.
I am almost jealous that you have winter over there. Stifado is one of my favourite dishes, but I never make it because it is too heavy for my stomach. Would you happen to know the Greek for chuck steak? Thank you!
That sounds like a lovely warming set of spices. Perfect for cold weather.
Thanks for passing from my blog even if I haven’t been around lately. I would eat stifado even now in summer as it’s one of my favourite dishes and yours looks so tempting.
Thanks a lot! I’m also a gourmet and pastry enthusiast and this would really go to my compilation. I would also like to share. I came across a good site about European and Swiss cooking which also gives free sample family-secret recipes.
Thank you very much for posting this lovely recipe. Here in Scandinavia the summer is already over, we have lots of rain and temperature around 12C nowadays, so making your stew today gave us a great hug of warmth from inside
. I liked it much though I have never before used the marriage of cinnamon and beef. Now I know what I have missed and will use this combination more often. For all those who still hesitate if it’s worth trying – don’t, just have it tonight
This looks extremely good! and what can I substitute the allspice berries with?
i have just used this recipe – th epot is simmering away right at this moment…
You confused me a little with winter offerings when it’s broiling in Australia – now that’s fellowship!!! The stew looks amazing and goodness, a wine glass with a stem on it.
ooh…your beef stew looks so good. I just want to know what is allspice berries? I’ve never heard of this spice before. Curious to know about it.
This looks delicious! Recipe will hafta be bookmarked. I gotta try this
I have already used your recipe before and my partner and I were blown away! This dish is so delicious! I am now marinating the beef as I type and plan on making it for my Father in law tomorrow ( a dish that will surely impress him) Thanks for sharing your dish, Lia from Malta, Europe.
Thank you for the recipe. Your photos are gorgeous!