Beef stifado recipe

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ kg lean braising beef, cubed
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 5 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1½ kg shallots, peeled
• 3 pieces cinnamon bark
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1½ tsp aniseed (or fennel seeds or 2 star anise)
• 3 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• Sea salt and pepper

Method

Tonia Buxton is a Greek Cypriot chef, nutritional expert and television presenter known for The Discovery Channel's My Greek Kitchen and My Cypriot Kitchen. In her new book, Eat Greek for a Week, she shows how Greek recipes can be used as part of a healthy diet to control weight, manage diabetes and feel younger.

Here, she shares her recipe for beef stifado - a healthy beef stew with a flavoursome tomato sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan then brown the cubed meat in batches. Remove and set aside.

Add the shallots to the pan and cook gently until caramelised. Now add the garlic and cook for a further minute or two. Burnt garlic becomes bitter so always take care to add after onions.

Add the vinegar, the spices and tomatoes and season well. Stir in 200ml hot water. Cover tightly and simmer for a minimum of 1½ hours but preferably 2 hours or until the meat is very tender, in a rich, thick sauce.

Tonia Buxton's Eat Greek for a Week is out June 4 (Blink Publishing)