BEEF STIFADO

Wow!  What a wonderful Christmas.  Family for the whole weekend and Family and Friends for the day.  Company was great, Food was delicious, Weather was perfect.  Who could ask for anything more?  I am truly the most fortunate human being on the planet.  I will be leaving tomorrow for a trip to Ohio for my Nieces wedding.  So of course all weekend all there was on the news and in the papers was Terrorist talk.  Good Grief people, don't you know I am going to be on a plane?  STOP!  All that talk sure is not very comforting.  But maybe in a way it is actually a good thing because security will be much tighter (I hope).  Then there is the weather.  Not very nice, snow and freezing temps.  Well, in spite of all of that I am looking forward to this very special event.  Chelsea is a very special girl and I know it will be a really beautiful Wedding.

I'm not sure if I will be able to post any recipes until I get back on the 4th of January but I have a good one for today.  This was given to me when I was in High School from the Mother of one of my friends.  She was from Greece and a great cook.  We have the traditional Beef Stew and this is the Greek version.  Really delicious and a nice change in flavors.  I made it a lot and my family all loved it as much as I did when I first tasted it at Kay's house.  So here it is: Beef Stifato.

BEEF STIFATO
Serves 6

about 4 lbs of Beef (chuck or round cut into cubes as for Stew 1")
about 1/2 cup of olive oil
2 Onions
1 6 ounce can of Contadina Tomato Paste
1 3/4 cups of a good Red Wine
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp of Peppercorns
a little over 1 tablespoon of Allspice
6 Cloves
3 Cloves of Garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the meat into pieces and saute in the hot olive oil until nicely browned.  Add all the other ingredients except the onions and cook on simmer, covered, for about an hour and a half or until the meat becomes tender.  Add the onions and cook for another 45 minutes. (should be thick, but if it becomes too thick add a little more Wine)  Pick our the cloves and discard.  The stew should be thick.  Serve with hot french bread, a salad and a nice Red Wine.  Soooooo Good!  I hope you will try this on a cold day.  The flavors are amazing!

Thanks for stopping in today
Ciao for now
Grayce