Stifado

Name: Stifado
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: Braising beef; Olive oil; Shallots; Red wine; Red wine vinegar; Tomato puree; Tinned plum tomatoes; Garlic; Ground cinnamon; Cloves; Bay leaf

410 kcal a serving, against 572 for the traditional version. That is 162 kcal off, or 28%, with 42.2g of protein. Serves 6. 3 hours plus chilling.

What the traditional version is

Huge chunks of untrimmed beef seared in 120g of olive oil. A massive pile of whole shallots fried until completely soft and saturated with fat. The whole lot is drowned in red wine, sharp vinegar and tomato puree, then simmered until the meat collapses and oil pools on top.

What changed, and what each change costs

120g of olive oil down to 15g

You do not need a deep pool of oil to sear meat or soften shallots. A quick brush of oil and a non-stick frying pan does the job perfectly.

What it costs you. The shallots don't get that deep caramelised crust from deep-frying. They just soften and sweeten gradually in the sauce instead.

Untrimmed beef down to aggressively trimmed lean braising beef

Thick strips of fat add flavour, but they melt directly into the sauce. Trimming the meat forces it to rely purely on the wine and vinegar for taste.

What it costs you. Lean meat dries out faster. You have to keep the heat exceptionally low during the braise so the beef relaxes slowly instead of seizing up.

Serving immediately swapped for chilling and skimming

Cooling the stew overnight lets the remaining fat solidify into a hard disc. You can just lift it off and throw it in the bin.

What it costs you. Time. You can't cook this and eat it on the same day if you want the best results. It demands patience.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Braising beef
Olive oil
Shallots
Red wine
Red wine vinegar
Tomato puree
Tinned plum tomatoes
Garlic
Ground cinnamon
Cloves
Bay leaf

How it starts

Trim your braising beef carefully.
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat.
Turn the heat down.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Greek.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	572	410
Protein	42.2g	42.2g
Fat	27.3g	9.8g
Saturated fat	5.4g	3g
Carbohydrate	34.3g	34.1g
Protein per 100 kcal	7.4g	10.3g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Greek prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. sulphites.

The method is in the book

This is a triumph. Stifado is usually heavy and greasy, but this version feels sharp, sweet and intensely savoury. The vinegar cuts right through the rich beef, and the cinnamon gives it that unmistakable Greek warmth. A weekend project that pays off beautifully, then. Not a quick midweek dinner, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Greek, along with 56 more. Buy the paperback