Mediterranean Beef, a slow cooker recipe

We have made this delicious recipe a few times now and it really is true regarding what is said about brown colored food. Those photos do not look any better from recipe to recipe or dinner to dinner!  With that said, it is time to share this wonderful recipe for Mediterranean Beef, even without better photos.

You will enjoy the warm spices of this main dish!

This recipe is warmly spiced, yet not overly sweet or spicy in any way. Even with the full measure of the prunes. If you enjoy prunes dried plums that are cooked until silky smooth, you will enjoy this entrée. But I have to be honest and tell you that the second or third time I made it I felt it needed a salty rival for flavor. So I tossed a handful of green olives on top, to garnish and oh my gosh, how delicious! But then again I am a big fan of salty/sweet together. You could also use black olives with equal success. 

While stew meat from the market is just fine, 

I do enjoy cutting a small chuck roast into cubes of meat for this recipe. It is just a personal preference. However I have found that sometimes stew meat can be really tough, depending on what was used that day. Taking a moment to cut up a small roast ensures overall tenderness. Plus you can cut the pieces into the size you prefer. But either way, whether you cut up a small roast or simply purchase stew meat, this will be a delicious dinner the whole family will love. 

This recipe does have a couple of steps, but so worth the time to complete. 

This recipe comes together fairly quickly, but the meat does benefit from a rich browning on the stove. Which serves to lock flavor into the meat while carnalizing the outside edges. From there you will use the beef drippings to sauté the onion adding even more flavor to this dish. Once the beef is tender, the final step is adding the lemon juice the last 10 minutes before serving over rice or any other grain or pasta that you may choose. This would be especially delicious over quinoa. The only other thing to suggest, is that you make this as soon as is possible! It is that good...

Ingredients needed for this recipe:

• beef for stewing  
• tallow, butter or oil 
• onions
• coriander
• cinnamon
• ginger
• beef stock
• prunes
• salt
• pepper
• lemon juice
• olives

You will also need the following:

• cutting board
• kitchen knife
• kitchen fork or tongs
• frying pan
• slow cooker
• measuring cups

Now we are ready to begin!

Mediterranean Beef
adapted from:  Fix it and Forget it, New Cookbook

1 T tallow, butter or oil
1 1/2 - 2 pounds beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 large onions, 1/2 inch dice
2 t ground coriander
1 1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
2 c beef stock 
1 pound pitted prunes/dried plums
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon

olives - green or black for garnish

Brown beef cubes in the oil in a skillet. Place the browned beef in the slow cooker. Reserve the drippings.

Peel and dice the onions. 

Sauté the diced onions in reserved drippings until lightly brown, adding more oil if needed. Add the cooked onions to the beef in the slow cooker.

Stir in remaining ingredients, except the lemon juice.

Simmer on low, 5 - 7 hours or until beef is fork tender, adding the lemon juice the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Serve with rice, quinoa or your own favorite such as pasta or a baked potato.

Yikes, still not very pretty...but so delicious!

Mediterranean Beef Stew and Vegetable Rice.

Here we served it over a family favorite, Vegetable Rice. To easily make vegetable rice, add some frozen mixed vegetables to the rice when there is about 10 minutes cooking time left. When the cooking time is up, stir gently, recover and let rest for about 5 minutes, then serve with Mediterranean Beef. Or for those that cook brown rice ahead, simmer the vegetables separately, draining well. Stir in the thawed brown rice, let rest 5 minutes to heat the rice before serving. 

Storage options for Mediterranean Beef. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days. I would freezing this dish, but expect some texture differences when thawed. 

UPDATE:  For your convenience, a "copy and paste" version of Mediterranean Beef has been included below. 

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Printable "copy and paste" version:

Mediterranean Beef
adapted from:  Fix it and Forget it, New Cookbook

1 T tallow, butter or oil
1 1/2 - 2 pounds beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 large onions, 1/2 inch dice
2 t ground coriander
1 1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
2 c beef stock 
1 pound pitted prunes/dried plums
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon

olives - green or black for garnish

Brown beef cubes in the oil in a skillet. Place the browned beef in the slow cooker. Reserve the drippings.

Peel and dice the onions. 

Sauté the diced onions in reserved drippings until lightly brown, adding more oil if needed. Add the cooked onions to the beef in the slow cooker.

Stir in remaining ingredients, except the lemon juice.

Simmer on low, 5 - 7 hours or until beef is fork tender, adding the lemon juice the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Serve with rice, quinoa or your own favorite such as pasta or a baked potato.

Here we served it over a family favorite, Vegetable Rice. To easily make vegetable rice, add some frozen mixed vegetables to the rice when there is about 10 minutes cooking time left. When the cooking time is up, stir gently, recover and let rest for about 5 minutes, then serve with Mediterranean Beef. 

Storage options for Mediterranean Beef. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days. I would freezing this dish, but expect some texture differences when thawed. 

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