When I first made this, it was so delicious, I woke up the next day, still longing for it. The flavour is rich and comforting, sweet and sour. Cutting the beef into thin strips means that it cooks to tender morsels in a short time. We purchased the beef from Long Island Larder. They were selling their produce at the Tagsa Saturday Market in Balivanich, but the’ll soon have a farm shop in Loch Skipport as well. The meat was delicious, excellent quality. Just a note, Tagsa will continue with their neighbour food project through the winter, but the fresh produce market is a summer/autumn thing.
Here’s the recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 500g beef, cut into thin strips
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 150g ready-to-eat prunes
- 1 medium butternut squash (pick one that feels very heavy for its size)
- 3 tbsp date syrup or brown sugar
- Juice of 2 limes (about 60ml)
- A large pinch of saffron, dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
METHOD:
- In a medium casserole or large saucepan, heat about 2 tbsp oil over a medium heat, and fry the onion for around 5 minutes, so that it softens and becomes translucent.
- Add the beef and fry for another 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.
- Add the salt, pepper, cinnamon, prunes and around 600ml water. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for a further 20 minutes.
- Meantime, peel and chop the squash into large chunks, coat with olive oil and roast in a hot oven (200C) for around 15 minutes. You could also fry the squash in olive oil, until the outside is browned.
- Stir the date syrup, lime juice, saffron water into the stew, and then add the squash. Cover and simmer for a further 40 minutes.
- Serve with white rice, preferably saffron steamed rice.