Name: Italian beef stew
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 205 min
Yield: serving
Cuisine: Beef
Ingredients: beef shin; 1 onion large, chopped; 3 celery stalks chopped; 1/2 carrots finely chopped; 1 fresh chillies finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, chopped; 2 tomatoes chopped; 1 tinned tomatoes whole peeled; 1 tomato paste; soy sauce; olive oil; 50 g butter; 1 cup stock vegetable or chicken; 4 fresh sage; fennel; oregano; water hot; 25 ml flour; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 garlic cloves; fresh parsley sprigs; lemon zest only

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Ingredients (22)

STEW:

	beef — shin
1	onion — large, chopped
3	celery stalks — chopped
1/2	carrots — finely chopped
1	fresh chillies — finely chopped
3	garlic — cloves, chopped
2	tomatoes — chopped
1	tinned tomatoes — whole peeled
1	tomato paste
	soy sauce
	olive oil
50 g	butter
1 cup	stock — vegetable or chicken
4	fresh sage
	fennel
	oregano
	water — hot
25 ml	flour
	salt and freshly ground black pepper

gremolata:

2	garlic — cloves
	fresh parsley — sprigs
	lemon — zest only

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Method:

Pat the meat as dry as you possibly can, then dust the meat with the flour. Make sure than all the surfaces are covered. Get the casserole up to heat and add the olive oil. The casserole should be of such a size that the meat can lie flat inside without being bundled up. Now fry the meat both sides until it’s brown. Take care not to burn the meat. The flour may burn earlier than the meat, so your close attention is required.

Remove the meat from the pot, then add the butter. Turn the heat down if required. The butter must not burn. Allow the butter to melt, then add the chopped onions, celery and carrots. Fry these gently until the onions go translucent. Then add the garlic and chilli. Fry these for fifteen seconds or so. Now add the chopped tomatoes, the can of tomatoes and the dash of soy sauce. Allow this to reduce to about half the volume, then add the stock. Mix thoroughly.

Now place the pieces of meat on top, making sure that the meat is covered in fluid. The parts that stick out will not cook properly. Add the juices that oozed out of the meat while resting. At this stage, add some small whole onions for garnish. Add the tomato paste now. Add the sage and the fennel, tearing them by hand. Sprinkle over some oregano.

Turn the heat down to a minimum on your smallest burner and put the lid on. Check every half hour for sufficient fluid in the pot and ladle some of the juices on top of the meat.

Gremolata

Chop up to the cloves of garlic, using some table salt to keep the bits together during mashing. Add the chopped parsley and the lemon zest. Mix this thoroughly. The quantity should be around three table spoons.

The test for readiness is the tenderness of the meat. The meat should be marrow soft. This will take about two to three hours. Turn off the flame and sprinkle half of the gremolata on top. Close the lid and make the potato mash. Remember to add some real butter to the mash.

Sprinkle some gremolata on each serving as a garnish. This one goes very well with a full bodied red wine.

Recipe reprinted with permission of The Hungry Sailor. To see more recipes, please click here.

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