Arab-American Beef Stew
By Andrew Brandon
One of the mainstay meals of my childhood was “beef cubes and rice”, which was one of my absolute most favorite things that my mother and grandmother cooked. It turns out that this is actually Lahma Bil Basal, an Egyptian slow-cooked stew of beef and onions. As a kid, I thought the rice was the entrée and the beef stew was the side, and although I liked the flavor, I didn’t like the soggy onions in the sauce; so I would strain out the sauce and eat a small pile of dry beef cubes upon a mountain of rice.
When I moved out of my parents’ house, I wanted to continue eating my favorite meal, but my mom’s recipe was always too onion-heavy for my liking. So I cut back on the onions and replaced them with other vegetables, including my newest favorite ingredient, the poblano pepper, which I now use instead of green bell pepper in almost every recipe. Although I grew up eating it with beef, I often make it with lamb instead. The flavor of lamb is hard to compete with, but beef is denser and holds up better during an extremely long simmer.
Desipite being ethnically inaccurate, I like to cook the stew in a tagine, because it looks more sophisticated. While I’d be thrilled for you to give my recipe a try, I encourage you to cook the traditional dish as well!
- 2-3 servings
- 30 minutes
- 90+ minutes
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef or lamb stew meat, cut into 1” cubes
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 poblano or bell pepper, chopped
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- Salt and pepper
Directions
- Place the beef cubes in a large skillet or tagine on medium heat, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
- Once the beef fat starts to render, add the chopped onion and pepper. Add a dash more salt and pepper to season, and add a drizzle of vegetable oil if needed for the sauté.
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Add the cumin, coriander, and allspice, and continue sautéeing until the onions are soft, about 15-20 minutes.
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Add the can of tomatoes and stir. Partially cover the pan and simmer on medium-low heat for 90 minutes or more, until the meat is tender, the tomatoes are fully cooked, and the liquid has mostly evaporated. If you want the flavors to mingle more, let it simmer longer; you really can’t cook it too long!
- Serve with rice, and optionally garnish with chopped parsley and tahini sauce.
This is but one of the many fantastic recipes available on this blog!