Stifado

We were stuck for dinner tonight. HWMBO wanted to roast a chicken. When I got to the store, clearly I had missed a memo... the place was overrun, and not a bird to be found. Suddenly, dinner was my responsibility.

Stifado. A cinnamon-scented beef stew. It doesn't really take that long to do, and it requires very little tending. I paired it with a spaghetti squash: roasted, "spaghetti'ed", and tossed with clove, basil, black pepper, butter, and parmigiano. Sunday evening perfect.

I paired a CA zin with it: warm weather fruit for the cinnamon and clove.

[Jenise]

New term to me, Stifado, but it sure sounds good. Love the cinnamon and clove angle with the zinfandel.

Our husbands must be related--when I asked him what he'd like for dinner yesterday, he also requested roast chicken. When I pointed this would require a trip to the store, something he'd already specified he didn't want me to have to do, I told him to pick a book from my bookshelf and I'd make something from or based on something I found there. That would at least confine me to an area. He chose the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I should post what I made.

Stifado is a Greek beef stew. In a way, it's like a Belgian carbonnade -- pretty much all meat, not much vegetables -- but no beer. Instead, it uses cinnamon sticks and garlic as its essential flavorings.

Funny about those husbands....

Also called stifatho, and some say you should use as many onions as you have meat...pound for pound. Rosemary seems to be a popular herb to use, as well.

I believe it comes from---or is related to---the word "estufado".

Madeira-heads know all about estufas!

For whatever little it may be of interest, in Spanish, "estofado" just means "stew" (from the verb "estofar").

Thanks for the idea. I'll bet it would really work with a bear roast!

# originally from "Soups, Stews and Casseroles", a collection of Food Writers' Favorites by Dial Publishing
# contributed by Mary Denise Scourtes, Tampa Tribune, Tampa FL

Stifado

2 lb stew beef or lamb, cubed, trimmed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 sticks cinnamon
2 cups beef broth
(some amount of onions, peeled, sliced)
3 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped fine
8 oz tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven. Brown the meat in batches, then return all to the pot.
2. Add the cinnamon sticks and 1 cup broth. Cook 1.5 hours or until the meat is tender.
3. Add garlic (and onion). Cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
4. Add tomato sauce, salt, and the rest of the broth. Cook covered for 30 minutes. Remove sticks and serve.

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Notes:
-- I used tomato paste diluted with a bit of water instead of the tomato sauce.
-- I might use more garlic next time.
-- I think this recipe would scale up nicely, if you wanted to make more.
-- I served it with spaghetti squash but I'd love to see this with spaetzle.

Jeff thanks for the recipe. I am going to do it with bear for some guests Sunday. He is a hunter, she is originally from Mexico and the two kids are in junior high. I will finally get the chance to do one of my roasts. I have been checking out recipes trying to avoid the "Jelly and fruit Glop" recipes. I had decided on doing it like a dish I had years ago in Uruguay "a la Portuguese". At least my spin on it which was tomato, olives, garlic, leeks, crushed hot pepper., parsley and dried green herbs. But your stifado won out! I think the cinnamon will really go well with the young bear roast.
I will serve it with wide noodles. Any suggestions as to side dishes, soup, salad and dessert?

Whenever the main is big and meaty, I usually look for a bit of balance in the sides, e.g., chunks of roasted carrots and a bowl of sauteed spinach. Put garlic in the spinach, put a sweet spice on the carrots.

The rest of the courses, well, could be anything, really.

Following your lead on carrots, I have a prebagged assortment of "winter" root vegetables from Whole Foods I could do. I purchased these just to check them out. Maybe I'll roast them with brown butter and fresh thyme.

How did it go?

I used a combination of 4 different recipes for the stifado. The meat was an equal combination of beef and bear. I made a stock with some veal bones and scraps I had in the freezer to use as the base. It came out wonderful the cinnamon and clove really married everything together. The dish did not hide the subtle flavor of the bear. Note, I had removed all the connective tissue and fat from the bear. In wild game I have found that almost all of the stronger smells and overpowering flavors are from the connective tissue, fat and bones of the animal. Remove these and the meat is tamed. Then, you can really appreciate the actual flavor of the meat.

We started with a chopped salad accompanied by a white Cotes du Rhone. The stifado was served with thick egg noodles. The mixed root vegetables braised with brown butter and thyme was the side dish. I served a 2000 Fife red Rhone blend with the main course. Dessert was cranberry steamed pudding with a 'soft' hard sauce. I served a 2002 Arrowood Late Harvest Riesling.

The total menu went well. The guests were an experience bear hunter, his SO an immigrant from Mexico and her two children. The children are in the 6th and 7th grades. I thought the children being accustomed to both the standard US cuisine, and Mexican cuisine would not find the use of cinnamon and clove in a main dish to strange. I was correct in my assumption. The children enjoyed the meal as well.

Thanks for the Stifado idea

What a great report! Glad it went well.