News Americas, , Fri. Aug. 12, 2011: When it comes to beef, there’s no denying most Argentineans always have the meat as part of their Cena (dinner).
The tradition of eating beef in this South American nation began in the 19th century, when there were thousands of cattle in the Pampas region. Beef was roasted on a spit on an open fire. When it was done, people sliced off chunks. They ate by holding the end of a chunk in their mouths and cutting off the rest with a knife.
Today, many forms of the meat is made across the country, including a wonderful stew of beef which can easily be recreated in any home kitchen.
Ingredients:
2 pound of beef, cut in bite size cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper; chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoon of basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup of dried apricots, chopped coarsely if whole and large
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups of beef broth
1 medium large Pumpkin
butter or margarine; melted
1/4 c Dry sherry
1 pound of whole kernel corn, drained and/or defrosted
Preparation:
In the olive oil brown the beef with the onion and garlic. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the corn, sherry and pumpkin of course. Simmer for a 1 hour, covered.
Cut the top off the pumpkin and discard. Scoop out the seeds and stringy membrane, and discard them as well. You could toast the pumpkin seeds in the oven for a snack if you like, but they are not used in this recipe.
Brush the inside of the pumpkin with butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in the stew, sherry and corn. Bake the stew containing pumpkin at 325F for about an hour, or until the pumpkin is tender.
When serving, scoop out some pumpkin along with the stew.
