Beef Stifado

1. 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 and place on a platter, cover and set aside.

2. 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.

3. Pour the meat along with its juices to the saucepan, add the chopped tomato, tomato puree, and the stifado mix. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer the beef stifado 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 taste and adjust salt to your likings.

4. Serve beef stifado with rice pilaf or fried potatoes. Enjoy!

Ingedients

• 1 kg good-quality stewing beef, cut into portions
• 1.7 kg baby shallot onions, peeled
• 3/4 of a cup red wine
• 3 tbsps red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup cognac
• 1 large Onion
• 2 tomatoes chopped or 1 can tomatoes
• Garlic Cloves (to taste) I used 4 cloves
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1 tbls stifado mix