BEEF STEW WITH CUMIN SEED

BEEF STEW WITH CUMIN SEED image

Categories Beef

Yield 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 20

2 cups unbleached flour
1 TBS dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 pounds (1.5kg) beef cubes
1/4 olive oil
1 cup red wine
1 1/2 cup beef stock
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 TBS cuminseed
1 tsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
8 to 12 pearl onions*
6 garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups green olives (optional)
1 pint/1 1/2 cups of Guinness (optional)
1 TBS dijon mustard (optional)
3 carrots sliced (optional)
*if you use plain onions, saute them in the beginning just after the beef

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 C Mix flour with salt, pepper and thyme and add beef to bag to coat, shake off excess. Heat the oil in large kettle, brown the beef, a few cubes at a time, transfer to plate. Add the wine, beef stock and crushed tomatoes to the kettle, bring to boil. Return beef to kettle, add cuminseed, chili powder, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Add carrots and Guinness at this point. Bake in oven for 1 hour covered and stir occasionally. Meanwhile boil a large pot of water, cut an X in the root of the pearl onion and drop into boiling water for 1 minute, Drain and place in cold water. When cool, peel them. Once the stew has cooked for 1 hour, stir in the onions and remove the cover. After 15 minutes, stir in the garlic, 1/2 cup of parsley and the olives. Cook for another 15 to 30 minutes or until stew is reduced and thickened to your taste - you may want to add a little more stock and cook for longer if the beef is not tender. Serve with parsley sprinkled on top with mashed potatoes.