Spanish Stewed Beef

Spanish Stewed Beef

I’ve been stewing beef with onions for eons, as did my mother before me.  She would call  “Spanish” just about any dish to which she added green bell peppers.  We all loved it, no matter what she called it.

Somewhere on the net recently I read that Spanish cuisine uses a lot of cinnamon and cloves (I have to admit, I’m not fond of cloves in meat dishes), so I decided “What the heck, I’m going to add some and see what I get!”

Well, I’m here to tell ya the cinnamon and cloves were magical in it!  I may even add a little more next time.  I also added a seeded jalapeno, but the final dish wasn’t hot at all, so I may not seed it next time.  🙂 I was hoping for a little “bite”.  This nutritious dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and is OK for  Paleo and Primal diners as well.  Be sure to check out the nutritional stats on this dish!  The basic ingredients would lend themselves to a rendering in lamb s well.

I used a pressure cooker for this dish both to speed up cooking and to help tenderize the grass-fed beef.  Grass-fed beef is so lean, it tends to cook up tougher than regular beef.  I pressured the meat, carrot and water for about 20 minutes.  After opening the cooker, I added all other ingredients, stirred and pressured another 10-15 minutes.  Then I slightly thickened the liquid so it would bind with the meat.  If you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can cook this with an ordinary large stew pot.  Doing so will, however, require more time in the first step for the meat to get fully tender.

This recipe has been included in Jennifer Eloff’s latest cookbook, Low Carbing Among Friends, Vol 5.  Read more about it on the Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/LowCarbingAmongFriends,  I’m so honored to be a part of her latest project and hope you’ll buy the latest editions (or the entire set!) at Amazon.com  or here .  I receive no remuneration for my participation in this or any of the other cookbooks that contain my recipes.  I sing its praises simply because ALL of her cookbooks are filled with simple, delightful, healthy recipes.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ lb. boneless, cooked beef, cut in thick slices or large cubes (I used leftover grass-fed chuck roast)

1 medium carrot, grated

water to amply cover the meat and carrot (about 3 cups)

5 oz. onion, sliced or chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (seed for milder dish; don’t seed for hotter result)

1/4 c. pimiento, sliced (fresh or type in a jar)

1 cloves garlic, minced

5 Roma tomatoes, chopped (or 1½ c. canned tomatoes, no-sugar added)

1 bay leaf (2 if small ones)

¼ tsp. each salt, black pepper, and cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:  Cut up meat and place in cooking pot or pressure cooker.  I’m sure this could be prepared in a crock pot, but I don’t own one, so you’re on your own there as to how log to cook it.  Add grated carrot and enough water to the pot to cover all ingredients well (about 3 cups).  Cover and bring to a boil (or to pressure) and lower heat to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour in a stew pot (20 minutes in a pressure cooker).  Remove cover (run cold water over pressure cooker lid to release pressure and remove lid).  Add all remaining ingredients, replace lid and bring to boil (pressure) once again and cook for about 20 minutes (10 minutes under pressure) or until veggies are just tender.  Release pressure and lid and thicken slightly with your favorite thickener.  When I was growing up, we would have had this over a bed of rice.  But I  served this tonight on zucchini noodles, which was OK.  But next time I think it would be better atop a good batch of mashed cauliflower.   🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

306 calories

11.8 g  fat

6.83 g  carbs, 1.7 g  fiber, 5.13 g  NET CARBS

40.42 g  protein

186 mg sodium