Beef and Eggplant Stew
Veal Budget Recipes Meat Dishes Turkish
Simplicity on a rainy day.
The lady at the market, from whom I get my vegetables, brought a new type of eggplant the other day, "little purse" eggplants. I also used them for fried eggplant with sauce. They're so sweet that it would be a shame not to continue taking advantage while she still has them so good and fresh. I also took advantage of the fact that the rain cancelled my running schedule, so I found myself with a free hour, which I figured was just right to cook a rather stubborn piece of beef that I had originally planned something else for, but I cancelled when I felt how fibrous it was - it wasn't suited for anything too refined. In the end things worked out well, I saved the meat and used the good eggplants.
Ingredients
1kg eggplants (2 medium eggplants)
500g beef (rib eye)
500g potatoes (2 large potatoes)
350g onions (2 large onions)
1 carrot
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon sweet pepper paste
5 allspice berries
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
salt, black pepper
oil
How to prepare beef and eggplant stew
- Using a vegetable peeler, cut lengthwise strips from the eggplant skin. Then cut the eggplants into 1.5 cm cubes. Sprinkle with salt and place on paper towels to drain.
- Dice the onion, but don't struggle to make them very small. Clean the meat of tendons and all white membranes and cut into suitable pieces of about 2 cm.
- In a pan as wide as possible (30 cm) saute the eggplant cubes in batches (2 batches; use 3-4 tablespoons oil/batch). Stir occasionally so they brown on all sides. After about 5 minutes, they should be done. Transfer to a bowl. Taste for salt and add more if needed.
- Add a little more oil to the pan and saute the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very soft. Add the meat and continue sauteing until the meat changes color all over.
- Add the two pastes and mix well for another 1 minute. Add the spices (salt, pepper, coriander, oregano, allspice, paprika) and stir.
- If your pan is not tall and you think it can't hold all the stew, now is the time to transfer the contents to a large pot.
- Add 1.2 l water and bring to a boil. Simmer covered, on medium-low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
* check that the meat is cooked after this time, if not let it cook longer until it's soft enough and falls apart into shreds; in this case keep hot water handy and add more if needed - Add the eggplants, cubed potatoes and sliced carrot. Stir gently and let simmer, covered, for another 30-40 minutes (check that the potato and carrot are cooked).
Eggplants peeled in strips
Sauteed eggplant cubes
Sauteing onion and meat
Adding the pastes
The meat is cooked
Stew is ready after vegetables are cooked
