Tastes Like Home
(Iraqi-style Beef and Vegetable Stew)
Hi Everyone,
Me: It’s a great meal to entertain with, it’s vegetables and meat, it comes with a sauce and you can serve it with steamed Basmati Rice.
My brother, Eon: They would have to be some very special people for me to make this for, because this is a lot of work. Marcel, Nadira, Ian and Laurie, take note.
The dish I was referring to is the Iraqi-style Beef and Vegetable Stew I first read about in the December issue of Saveur. I have made the stew several times since then. One occasion was when my brother and his wife, Saudia, visited me in Barbados back in February. On the dining table that day was a pot of hot ghee-kissed Basmati rice and a 6-quart Le Creuset pot full of Iraqi-style Beef and Vegetable Stew. As the heavy lid was removed, the aroma of hot and sweet spices mixed with a fruity tomato sauce perfumed the table. Everyone tucked in and I looked in my brother’s direction for a reaction. My sister-in-law is generally open about her reactions to foodie things so she was easy to gauge but not so with Eon. At times he seems contemplative about whatever he is eating. Apart from my informing them at the beginning of the meal what it was, his two questions were a reconfirmation that it contained eggplant and to ask how it was made. I got the impression he liked it but was not necessarily bowled over by it. However, he ate twice.
A week after he returned to Guyana, I received an email from him asking for the recipe for the Iraqi-style Beef and Vegetable Stew. He indicated that he had asked his wife to pick up a cast-iron pot like mine because he wanted to replicate the dish exactly. I sent him the recipe and explained that it was not necessary to purchase a pot specially to make the stew. I suggested the use of a large Pyrex or casserole dish with a fitted cover. He would have none of it and insisted that he wanted to get the right equipment for the job. Almost three months went by and I never got a report as to how the stew turned out or if he had made it at all.
During my recent visit to Guyana, Eon requested that we cook the Iraqi-style Beef and Vegetable Stew together. He tentatively asked if the aluminium pot he had would work, I told him yes. To further prove my point, I said we would also use one of the Pyrex dishes (the pot would not have been able to hold all the stew). I set about making the spice mixture explaining that it is important to measure the quantities in order to achieve the right balance of flavours. The beef was cut up and all the vegetables prepped.
As we worked together, okay, I worked and Eon watched (and here was I thinking that we were supposed to be doing this together!) I shared some tips and advice about how to generally clean and prepare meat, I explained about how delicious a rib-eye steak is and the importance of preheating the oven when using it. I discussed the absorbing nature of eggplants. He was a keen listener as he observed the pan-frying stage of preparing the stew. I saw lights go off in his head as I fried the beef to give it some colour and explained how it would add a depth of flavour as it cooked with the other ingredients. He nodded in understanding as I toasted the tomato paste.
Soon it was time to assemble the stew – layering the vegetables, meat and spice paste and seasoning each layer with salt to taste. Eon commented, “This seems like a lot of salt.” I explained that it wasn’t and the need to season each layer (if only he’d read last week’s column, oh well).
The pot and Pyrex were transferred to the oven and set to cook for an hour or until the beef was tender. I closed the oven door, and looked up, only to find that my brother had already left the kitchen. The man left me to wash up and clean the counters etc. So much for teamwork! He later declared that he does not do washing up. I laughed as I thought back to our growing up years….
The washing of dishes, cleaning up of the dining table and sweeping and mopping the kitchen were chores my mother rotated weekly among my sister, my brother and I. The sweeping and mopping of the kitchen he never did because each night he had to take out the garbage. But I do recall him not liking to do the dishes. I guess some things never change. But I digress.
Over an hour later, the Iraqi-style Beef and Vegetable Stew is bubbling gently in the oven, Eon ascends the stairs, enters the kitchen smiling, and proclaims that he can smell the stew all the way upstairs. I removed the pot and Pyrex from the oven and oh my goodness, you should have seen the pleasure on Eon’s face as he stared at the glass Pyrex. “So I don’t need to get a fancy, expensive pot then…” he said, to which I responded, “I told you so. I told you all along to use a Pyrex.”
We all sat down to dinner, he ate twice and commented how the Basmati rice is lighter in his stomach. Honestly, I don’t know how he comes up with these one-liners.
It was an interesting afternoon in the kitchen with my brother. Apart from the fact that we live in different countries, whenever we are together we are rarely alone and when we are, each tends to be quiet, content to be in each other’s company while not saying anything. It’s a comfortable silence.
He’s an excellent cook in his own right and loves to try new things and experiment. He likes to entertain with an elaborate food spread. When I think of his cooking marathons I shake my head, as this was the young man who used to quarrel each Sunday when I would cook while we were growing up. Remember I told you? He would complain, “Mommy, I don’t understand why she gah fuh cook. She got to make 50-million things and we end up eating late!” Never mind one of his cooking marathons back in 2007 when I visited that resulted in my frustrated hunger because he decided to fire up the charcoal grill when the guests arrived instead to doing it before and having some of the meat already cooked!
I can’t wait for his next visit to Barbados. When he eats the Haitian Griot I’ll make, he’ll fall in love with pork all over again!
Cynthia
tasteslikehome@gmail.com
www.tasteslikeome.org
Kabset Baitenjan (Iraqi-Style Beef & Vegetable Stew
(Heavily adapted from Saveur)
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons spice paste (recipe below)
1 lb eggplant, peeled and cut into ¾” thick rounds
1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” thick rounds
2 large tomatoes cut into 1-inch thick rounds
1 large onion cut into ¾” thick rounds
1 large green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and quartered
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and quartered
2 lbs beef, cut into large chunks
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
½ tablespoon salt plus more to taste
Canola oil for frying
1 cup water
SPICE PASTE
1½ teaspoons black pepper corns
½ teaspoon cumin seeds (geera)
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
2 green cardamom pods (elaichi)
2 whole allspice berries
2 whole cloves
1 large hot pepper (or to taste)
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-teaspoon (pinch) ground ginger (substitute with ½ teaspoon freshly grated)
1/8-teaspoon (pinch) ground turmeric (substitute with ½ teaspoon curry powder)
EQUIPMENT
1 small frying pan
1 large frying pan
1 flat, slotted spatula
1 colander
1 large plate
Paper towels
1 medium bowl
1 large spoon
1 6-quart cast iron pot with cover or 1 large Pyrex or Casserole dish with cover
METHOD
Spice Paste
Add peppercorns, cumin, coriander, coriander, cardamom, allspice berries and cloves to a shallow frying pan and toast over medium heat until fragrant (think parching masala). Shake the pan a couple of times to move the spices around
Cool toasted spices slightly and grind to a powder along with the hot pepper
Transfer to a bowl and add the other spice ingredients – nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric. Add a few drops of water and mix to form a paste. Set aside
Frying
Pour ¼ cup oil into large frying pan and heat until almost smoking. Working in batches, fry the eggplant until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. (The eggplants will absorb the oil but do not add any more!) Transfer to colander and let rest to remove any excess oil
Add another ¼ cup oil to pan and heat. Again, working in batches, fry the potatoes for 2 minutes. Set aside on plate (you may need to add a little more oil at a time as you continue to pan fry)
Fry one of the sliced tomatoes for 15 seconds; drain on paper towels
Fry onions until golden, about 1½ minutes; drain
Fry peppers for 1 minute; set aside
Fry beef in batches until browned, about 30 seconds; transfer to bowl to capture juices
PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 Degrees F
Tomato Sauce
Using the pan that the vegetables and meat were fried in, add 3 tablespoons oil and place on medium-high heat
Add garlic and cook for 1 minute
Add tomato paste and cook until it gets brown. Use the back of the spoon to press the paste into the pan to toast it, about 1 – 2 minutes only
Stir in the cup of water, ½ tablespoon salt and drippings (juices from the meat). Cook for 30 seconds and set aside
Assembling
Starting with the raw tomato, layer vegetables and beef in pot or dish. Season each layer with salt to taste and big dots of the spice mixture. Repeat layers until all the ingredients have been added.
Pour in tomato sauce; slide spatula around the pot to disperse sauce. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until beef is tender
Let rest for 30 minutes
Serve with rice
