Beef With Red Wine Over Cous Cous
Why I Love This Recipe
Ingredients You'll Need
2lbs beef for stew
2 cans of beef broth
2 cups red wine-if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it.
1 small can mushroom pieces and stems
3 TBS minced garlic
2 TBS dry mustard
1 TBS dry basil
1 TBS dry pastilla chili powder
2 tps dry lavendar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp Accent
1 tsp salt
1 TBS pepper
1 or 2 large tomatoes
2 avocadoes
Chili powder or hot sauce
2 cups cous cous
2 cups water
2 TBS butter
1 cup sour cream
Directions
Check stew meat from market, removing excess fat and connecting tissue. Cut into bite sized pieces. Put meat and all dry ingredients, #'s 5 through 12 in a plastic bag. Hold the top and shake until all pieces are coated, about a minute.
On medium, heat a large skillet or dutch oven, I use cast iron.
When hot add 3 TBS olive oil or grapeseed oil. Add the contents of the plastic bag including all non-incorporated dry ingredients. Spread the meat around so that the pan bottom is covered. Let cook for 3 minutes, stir and let cook again for three minutes, repeat this step until most of the pieces are brown on at least one side.
Add 1 can broth, 1 cup red wine and all the garlic. Allow to come to a simmer, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cover.
Set timer for 20 minutes. When it goes off, check pan. Scrape the pan bottom to unstick any stuck pieces, add half of the second can of broth. Cover pan, set timer for 20 minutes and repeat, scraping pan often enough that nothing burns. When ingredients have cooked for 45 minutes add second cup of wine and rest of broth if you haven't already. Stir to blend, cover and set timer for 20 minutes. If you need to add liquid after this, you can use water or open another can of broth-it shouldn't require much.
Cut a ripe large tomato into slices, you want two slices for each plate. Cut the avocados into slices.
Cook the meat for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes. When you are down to 10 minutes of cooking time left, put water and butter into sauce pan, bring to a boil over high heat, add cous cous, stir and immediately remove from heat. Let stand for approximately 2 minutes or as long as the package recommends. Open pan and fluff up cous cous with a fork.
Put enough cous cous on each plate to cover the interior, put two tomato slices on top of the cous cous and then add avocado slices over the tomatoes. Sprinkle hot sauce or dry chili powder-I use El Mexicano's Pico de Gallo-over the plate, as much or as little as you like. When the time goes off on the beef mixture (you have been keeping it unstuck haven't you?)uncover. Using a large measuring cup or bowl, put the sour cream and at least a 1/4 cup of the hot liquid together and mix until the cream isn't cold,then add to the beef,stirring to incorporate.
Spoon the beef mixture over the cous cous-I have a large spoon and use about 3 scoops per plate. Serve immediately
