I could easily be a vegetarian but now and then I do like very "lean" beef like filet mignon or boneless chicken breast. My husband is the complete opposite. He wants the bones in his chicken or meat. Anyway, "we" went grocery shopping at my favorite Persian market yesterday and they had lovely "boneless" beef stew meat on sale. I thought of this recipe and bought some to make it. So, here's a recipe I want to share with you for Egyptian Kabab Hala. It's basically a wonderful beef dish that is slow cooked and makes it's own gravy. Here is what you will need:
2 pounds lean beef stew meat cut in 1" cubes
1 large onion - chopped fine
2+ cloves of garlic - minced
2 T flour
1 beef buillion cube dissolved in 2 cups boiling water
salt and pepper
1/4 cup butter
dash cinnamon - optional
Wash, cut and dry meat cubes. Salt and pepper the meat (take it easy on the salt as the buillion has salt in it) and sprinkle meat cubes with the flour. In large pot (I use non stick) melt 2 Tablespoons of the butter.
When butter is melted, add half of the floured beef cubes.
Cook beef cubes until nicely browned on all sides and remove from pan and put in slow cooker. Repeat for second half of beef cubes using the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
After browning the beef cubes, they should like the picture above. When all cubes have been browned and put in the slow cooker, you will brown the onions, followed by the garlic in the leftover butter.
Cook the onioins for about three to four minutes and add in the garlic at the last. Cook just until colored and onions have absorbed the juices from the pan. Place onions on top of the browned beef cubes in the slow cooker.
Turn the slow cooker onto the "high" heat setting and cook for one hour. After one hour, turn setting to "low" and add a little bit of the beef buillion - approximately 1/2 cup to 1 cup.
Continue to cook on low for approximately five to six hours, stirring frequently and adding a little more buillion if needed. As the dish cooks the onions and juices with combine with the flour and make a wonderful gravy for the meat. But, you need to be patient as this takes a long time to simmer. You can add a dash of cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon) if you wish a little more flavor.
Note: If you don't have a slow cooker, you can cook it on top of the stove in a covered pan. But, in that case you may need to use the whole 2 cups of the broth. I have a gas stove and it cooks very hot. I only used a little over 1 cup of the broth using my slow cooker. Just add enough broth to keep the sauce "gravy" consistency. I hope this helps. Any questions, please comment and I will respond.
I wish each of you a fun filled week. I hope to be back next week with something new to share with you. Please remember to stop by Handmade Harbour where you will find lots of creative ideas. Until next week,
take care,
Pat & Lilly :)
