Greek Style Beef Stew

Prep Time:
35 mins

Cook Time:
15 mins

Additional Time:
20 mins

Total Time:
1 hr 10 mins

Servings:
6

Yield:
2 quarts

Ingredients

Directions

Heat olive oil in a 5-quart pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add half the beef; cook and stir until well browned on all sides. Remove beef with a slotted spoon and set aside. Brown the remaining meat and set aside.

Place chopped onion in the pressure cooker; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the garlic and stir for an additional minute. Pour in the red wine, red wine vinegar, and beef broth; stir in the tomato paste and mix well.

Grind or crush rosemary, oregano, and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Add crushed spices to the cooker with bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and brown sugar.

Pour in tomatoes and their juice; rinse the can with 1/2 cup water and add the water to the cooker. Stir in potatoes and carrots. Return the browned meat to the pressure cooker. A 5-quart pot should be about half full and a little soupy; the potato will dissolve a bit and thicken it after cooking. Cover the pot and seal the lid.

Bring the pot up to high pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let the pressure reduce naturally. Taste the stew and add salt, if desired.

Cook's Notes:

We have this every other week during the winter months. Also the cassia cinnamon popular here in the U.S. is way too strong, so be careful. If you use Ceylon cinnamon, use 1/4 teaspoon.

You can use low-sodium chicken broth instead of the beef broth. If you used canned broth or stock with salt, don't add any more salt. It's very good with homemade veggie stock. This is not as good without tomato paste or bay leaves. I'm sure you could sub tofu for the beef and make it completely vegan, but I will leave that to my vegetarian friends. Great the next day. Enjoy!

This can also be made in a slow cooker. Omit the 1/2 cup water. Use a skillet and follow steps 1 and 2. Transfer contents of the skillet to a slow cooker; add the potatoes and carrots. Place the browned meat on top of the vegetables and add the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

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