Red Meat Recipes: Beef, Lamb and Pork

Lamb (or Beef) and Green Bean Tagine

Tagines are the stews of Morocco, and take many forms. This one is another favorite adapted from The Africa News Cookbook. It is easy and wonderful. Serves 6.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (or get out your slow-cooker/crockpot).

2 lbs. stewing lamb (or beef), cut into bite-size pieces
2 1/2 lbs. green beans, strung and 1/2'd (frozen beans work fine)
12 small (or 3 large) tomatoes, peeled if desired and coarsely chopped (we grind these in a blender for the anti-tomato-chunk Bill, or use canned tomato puree)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c. olive oil
2 T paprika
1/4 t. saffron OR 1/2 t. turmeric
Combine in heavy baking dish or oven-safe pot w/up to 2 t. salt. Cover w/foil or tightly fitting lid and bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour (or set your crockpot for "stew me my supper", and go about your business for 6-8 hours; if you use frozen beans, thaw them before putting them in the crockpot).

Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees.

2 T lemon juice
Stir in and bake uncovered for one more hour (or add lemon juice for last two hours in crockpot; or just add it from the beginning, or omit--it's still good without it), 'til meat very tender. Enjoy!

Mussaka Patates

A tender, delicious treat: Greek meat and potatoes in a lovely tomato-wine sauce. I think I got this one from Jean Rowland's touristy cookbook that we found in the IU library. With both stovetop and oven phases, it takes a little more doing; it also works well the easy way in a 6-qt. slow-cooker, just dumping everything in at once, turning on the cooker and walking away.

I. Stovetop

1 clove garlic (or more, to taste), chopped
Brown lightly in 1/4-1/2 c. olive oil in large skillet. The recipe says to then take the garlic out to be added back later; I usually don't bother (who wants to chase down all those little garlic pieces?), but feel free to do so yourself (it's probably done to flavor the potatoes while keeping the garlic more potent for the sauce later).

7-8 medium potatoes, sliced
Fry in same pan in same oil 'til cooked; remove and set aside.

1 1/2 lbs. lamb or veal (or beef), chopped
1 lg. onion, chopped
1/2 t. black pepper
(If you left the garlic in with the potatoes, you might want to add another clove or two with the meat now.) Mix together with the set-aside garlic (if you took it out of the oil earlier) and up to 1 1/2 t. salt, and brown lightly in the same pan (it's going to finish cooking in the oven).

II. Oven

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place alternate layers of potatoes and meat in a large, greased baking dish, starting and ending w/potatoes (I usually use a 6-qt. pot: you don't want this boiling over in the oven).

1/4 c. tomato paste
1/2 c. red wine
Combine w/1 c. water and pour in.

1 stick cinnamon
Poke into the top layers of stew, and pour remaining oil in skillet over all (omit this excess fat step if you want--but it does give you extra flavor). Cover the pot and bake 45-50 minutes.

Riz Buzalla

Syrian meat sauce with pilaf. Another treat from the Rowland book. It takes a little more time to prepare, but it's worth it.

I. Sauce

2 lbs. lean beef, lamb or veal, diced
1 medium onion, diced
Brown in 2 T oil in 3-qt. pot. Add 3 c. water w/up to 1 T salt and 1/2 t. pepper and bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to medium or medium-low and let simmer 30 minutes.

1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
Stir in, blending tomato paste thoroughly into the broth. Let cook uncovered over medium heat 'til sauce thickens, stirring occasionally (this should take maybe 10 or fifteen minutes).

3 c. peas, green beans, or sliced okra
Add; cover, reduce heat to minimum and let simmer gently while you prepare the pilaf (next).

II. Pilaf

1/2 c. broken vermicelli or other fine pasta
Brown in 1/4 c. (clarified) butter or olive oil in heavy 2-qt. pot.

2 c. rice
Add w/4 c. water and up to 1 t. salt and bring to boil; cover and simmer 'til rice tender and almost all water absorbed (about 25 minutes), being careful to avoid sticking (start checking it after about 15 minutes).

III. To Serve

Mound the pilaf on a large platter. Make a dent in the middle and pour the sauce over the top. Serve with a salad, and provide a bowl of plain yogurt to pass at table. Of course, you can also serve it American-style in separate serving dishes, but that's not as pretty on the table (smile).

Thiou with Beef

A savory beef vegetable stew from Senegal, adapted from Sandy Lesberg's The Art of African Cooking which I found in a used bookstore. This is similar to a couscous stew, and does well in a slow-cooker. Serves 6.

1 3/4 lbs. beef, cut in small pieces
Brown in 1/4 c. oil.

3 onions, minced
Ad and fry 'til golden.

1/4 c. tomato paste, diluted with a little water
Mix in and let simmer while you prep the veggies, adding a little water as necessary to keep it from sticking.

3-4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or pureed, or 1 can tomato puree)
1 small cabbage, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 medium-sized turnips, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves
1 t. each dried thyme and basil
Add w/salt and pepper to taste. Pour in 4 c. water and bring to boil; reduce heat to minimum, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Serve w/rice.

Tabshe

Pronounced "TOE-shay" (roughly). A Hausa (northern Nigeria/southern Niger) beef stew with spinach and squash in a tomato-peanut sauce flavored with ground dry shrimp. We got this one from the Nigeria Cookbook in the IU library. Also does well in a slow-cooker (thaw the greens first if you're using frozen). Serves 6.

2 lbs. beef, cut in chunks
1 lg. onion, chopped
Bring to boil in 1/2 c. water w/a dash of salt.

2 T (peanut) oil or melted butter
1 small tomato, chopped (I usually omit this)
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
Add; reduce heat to low, cover and let cook while you prep the veggies.

1 small pumpkin (or winter squash like acorn or butternut), peeled and cut in chunks
Add w/1 c. water and cook about 10 minutes.

1 lb. spinach or other greens, chopped
Stir in and bring to boil.

2 T smooth natural peanut butter
(Don't use Jif-style p-nut butter for this: it's sweetened and has added oils and stabilizers that will gum up your stew.) Mix w/a little broth from the pot 'til smooth, and stir in to stew.

1-2 T finely ground dried shrimp
(You can get dried shrimp at an Asian grocery.) Add w/salt and pepper to taste; reduce heat to medium and cook 10-20 minutes more, 'til meat well-done. Serve w/rice.

Spicy Sri Lankan Pork Curry

Another treasure modified somewhat from my old Harvey Day paperback. It should be very hot if you do this right, but if you can't have hot you can cut the chiles and still have a lovely curry. Serves 6-8.

2 lbs. pork
Brown in 1-2 T mustard oil (reg. cooking oil is OK, but mustard is best) and set aside. Pour off the grease, leaving just a trace in the pan.

2 lg. onions, chopped
Fry in vacated pork pan 'til golden, and set aside w/meat. Optional: drain off any remaining oil, and quickly wash the hot pan (you're going to use it again).

12 (yes, a dozen) small red chiles (reduce to as few as 2 to bring this into normal American tolerance)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
8 peppercorns
6 whole cloves (the spice, not garlic)
1 (2-inch) stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 t. each ground cumin and turmeric
(Optional, but releases added flavor: wrap the whole spices [pepper, cloves and cinnamon] in a towel and crush them w/a rolling pin.) Combine all the spices w/salt to taste and then mix them together with the set-aside meat and onions. Transfer the now-seasoned meat back into the frying pan and add just enough water to let the meat simmer over low heat 'til tender.

1 T white vinegar
Stir in, and transfer to serving dish. Garnish with 3 sliced chiles and a few bay leaves if desired, and serve w/plain yogurt or a raita (for cooling your mouth!), rice and a mild curried vegetable dish (or my Veggie Pilau). Add a lentil dish (or a rice-and-lentil pilaf like Bhoonee Khedgeree), chutneys and chapatis for a fancier dinner.

Pork or Beef Korma

Yet another treat from Harvey Day. This one is not as sinus-clearing as the Sri Lankan dish above (wink).

3 onions, finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
Fry in 1/4-1/2 c. (mustard) oil or (clarified) butter in large pan 'til golden brown.

1 lb. pork or beef, cut into 1-1 1/2" cubes
Add and brown, cooking 'til the juices from the meat have made a rich brown sauce with the onions nad garlic.

1/2 t. ground ginger (or 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, slivered)
1/4 t. each ground cumin and black pepper
3-4 bay leaves
2-3 (1-inch) sticks cinnamon
12 whole cloves
seeds of 6-7 cardamom pods
5 large ripe tomatoes, 1/2'd (we'd chop these fine or puree them for Bill; this also contributes to a thicker sauce)
Add w/1/2 c. water. Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 'til meat is tender (20-30 minutes).

4 small red new potatoes, added whole (leave skins on)
1 1/4 c. plain yogurt

Add and simmer, stirring occasionally, 'til potatoes cooked and meat is soft and completely done (about 15 minutes). Serve with the usual Indian accompaniments.

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Abbie Anderson
Last updated 8/25/99