It is not quite spring here in the Northern Hemisphere and Mother Nature has been flipping the switch here lately with some teasingly warm and sunny days followed by chilly nights that beg for warm soothing foods. Soups, stews, and chilis are a great option for us as they provide lots of leftovers for lazy-night dinners. I am a fan of anything that has the term Moroccan, Persian, Mediterranean, etc. The various spices that are used in these cuisines are some of my favorites so when I saw a blog post from Half Baked Harvest for this Persian Inspired Beef Stew I knew I wanted to make it. It is a very rich and hearty stew that is full of beef alongside white beans, spinach, and lots of fresh herbs. Served over rice and topped with crumbled feta this is a whole ‘nother level of beef stew!
What’s for Dinner?is a Saturday evening get-together where friends share recipes, talk about good food and help others answer culinary questions.
We welcome you to our virtual table every Saturday evening 4:30 PT/7:30 ET. If you would like to write a post for an upcoming date just send a message to ninkasi23!
(There are Instant Pot & Slow Cooker directions for this over at the website if needed.)
Preheat oven to 325°. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or other oven-safe braiser and sear the beef on both sides. Work in batches if necessary to keep from over-crowding the pan. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Searing the beef in batches with the onions and spices waiting their turn.
Add the onion to the pot and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic, turmeric, crushed red pepper, and the lemon zest. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the beef and any collected juices back to the pot. Pour in 3 cups of broth, the tomatoes, and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. (Note if your broth is store bought you may want to hold back the amount of salt. You can always add more later.) Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours or the beef is tender.
Remove from the oven and place over low heat. Add the beans, spinach, cilantro, parsley, dill, and chives. Cover and simmer until the spinach is wilted. If needed add the remaining 1 cup of broth to thin to your preference. (I found that I did need the extra for mine)
The adding of the greens! Also, note the dark fond around the sides of the pan? You want that in your stew!
Now, the steam from simmering it will have helped to loosen all that delicious fond that has collected around the sides of the pot. Using a big wooden spoon or a good spatula scrape as much of that dark goldmine of flavor into the stew. I find that sloshing the stew around and up the sides while scraping works well.
I got quite a bit of the fond scraped into the stew!
Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Serve over cooked rice and topped with the crumbled cheese and fresh mint if desired.
Do you have a favorite beef stew recipe? There are so many that it is nice to find one that brings in flavors and ingredients that are different from what I normally would use in beef stew.
I am also interested in making some Ukrainian dishes so I found a list of suggested cookbooks online and the first one I decided to look for was Mamushka by Olia Hercules. While the hard copy is on backorder the kindle version was on sale for $2.99 so I got it! Just starting in on it so I am looking forward to making some of the recipes.
So have a seat and join the table! What’s for dinner at your house tonight?
