The taverna classic that makes onions the co-star
Stifado is what Greek home cooks do with a tough cut and a bag of little onions: braise them slowly in red wine, tomato and warm spice until the beef turns silky and the onions go impossibly sweet. A cinnamon stick and a few allspice berries do something quietly magic here — it's warming rather than spicy, and the gravy comes out glossy from everything the blade gives up along the way. Serve it with crusty bread, pour a glass of whatever's open, and take your time over it.
Ingredients
- 430g Your Farmer grass-fed blade steak, cut into large chunks
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 500g baby (pickling) onions or small eschalots, peeled
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 250ml dry red wine
- 400g can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cinnamon stick, 4 whole allspice berries and 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Salt and pepper to season
- Crusty bread or orzo, to serve
Instructions
To make peeling painless, cover the baby onions with boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, and slip the skins off with a paring knife.
500g baby onionsHeat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the blade chunks well on all sides. Set aside.
2 tbsp olive oil430g blade steakAdd the remaining oil and the whole onions and roll them around for 5 to 6 minutes until blistered and golden in patches, then stir in the garlic for a minute.
1 tbsp olive oil3 cloves garlicAdd the vinegar and wine, let them bubble hard for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes, cinnamon, allspice, bay, sugar and a good pinch of salt.
2 tbsp red wine vinegar250ml red wine400g crushed tomatoes1/2 tsp sugarReturn the beef and its juices, add a splash of water if the beef isn't mostly covered, then cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 2 hours, until the blade is spoon-tender and the onions are sweet all the way through. Stir gently and rarely — the onions should stay whole.
Uncover for the last 10 minutes to thicken the sauce to a glossy gravy. Remove the cinnamon and bay, season, and serve with crusty bread or orzo.
crusty breadAppears in
Pack B & Pack D shares — Blade (~430g)
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A Braise Built on Gelatine and Patience
Every taverna has a stifado, and none of them make it with expensive beef — the dish exists because slow heat, wine and time turn a hard-working cut into something luxurious. Blade is the right pack to reach for: the seam through each Your Farmer® blade steak melts into the sauce over two gentle hours, and that's where stifado's signature glossy, almost sticky gravy comes from. The other signature is the onions — equal partners, not garnish. Kept whole, they steam sweet inside their layers while their outsides soak up wine and spice, so resist the urge to stir them into pieces. The blade pack runs about 430g and arrives in Pack B and Pack D beef shares; you can also buy blade steak on its own when the craving hits between deliveries.
Swaps and Variations
Stifado is nearly as good with lamb — forequarter chops, bones in, with 20 extra minutes of simmering. Diced beef works with the same timing as blade. A couple of strips of orange zest in with the bay is a lovely, still-traditional touch, and some Greek cooks add a spoon of tomato paste for a deeper red. Serve it over orzo, mash or thick chips — anything that holds gravy — with a block of feta and some olives on the table if you're doing it taverna-style. If gentle, gelatine-rich braises are becoming your winter habit, our Korean-style braised beef trades on exactly the same magic in a different key.
Storage and Leftovers
Day-two stifado is the stuff of legend — the cinnamon rounds out and the sauce thickens as it rests. Keep it airtight in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months, and reheat gently so the onions hold their shape. Leftover idea: pull the beef apart, chop the onions roughly, and toss the lot through pasta with a shower of grated cheese — Greek grandmothers would approve.
Cuts like blade are exactly why the grass-fed beef CSA share works the way it does — the whole animal, including the cuts that braise like a dream.
Frequently asked questions
I can't find baby pickling onions. What can I use?
What can I use instead of the red wine?
Is stifado spicy?
Can I do it in the oven or slow cooker?
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