So occasionally I find odd bits of meat pieces in the freezer.  I know what they are and about when I put them there (no freezer burn please!) I just can’t remember what the ORIGINAL use was for, so I improvise.  This improvisation came about during a “I want MEAT now!!!” phase and a few things from the cupboard.  I’m rather please with how tasty it all turned out.

Murammala bi kam’a

(Beef Stew with Truffles and Garbanzos)

Translation:

Cut meat into small pieces, wash it, and put it in a pot. Add soaked chickpeas, zayt maghsul (washed olive oil), galangal and cassia, a piece of each, chopped onion, chopped fresh herbs, and a little salt.

Pour some water into the pot and let it boil, skimming the froth as it comes up. Add black truffles, chopped into small pieces like meat. If truffles are not available, substitute with carrots or gourd, also chopped like the meat. Add them to the pot along with black pepper, coriander seeds,…cumin, and a small amount of cheese and ground cassia.

Garnish the top with many poached eggs, and allow the stew to settle and rest for a while. Ladle and serve the dish, god willing. (Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, pp. 283)

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Stew meat

2 Tbsp. ea. Parsley and basil (dry if fresh is not available)

1 pinch saffron

1 Onion

1/2 C. Olive oil

1 16 oz. can garbanzo beans drained

1 Tsp ea. Ground cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, cumin, galingale

2 Tsp sea salt

3 Bruised bay leaves (fresh) or 3 whole dried to be pulled out at the end of cooking

2 C. Carrots

2 C. Water

3 or 4 eggs raw eggs or more

Cheese to taste (feta or manchago)

Redaction:

So the meat I used here is a bit of brisket with the fat trimmed.  This is a tough chewy chunk of meat so needs a lot of slooooow cooking.  A crock pot is really good for this or low and slow in the oven.

I cut up the beef (note the chunky quality?) This will cook down.

and onions (separately) then gathered all the herbs

carrots and garbanzo beans.

I was being a little lazy with the carrots (no truffles were on hand) and used baby carrots unchopped.  If you have regular carrots and want to chop them by all means please do!

I poured roughly one half cup of olive oil into a crock pot then added the meat.   Once the meat was in the crock pot, I added onions, spices, carrots and salt.

I also added about two cups of water and the garbanzo beans.

Give this a stir so that everything is well mixed and the water just a little under the ingredients.

Before serving crack 3 or 4 eggs over the stew to poach.

If you don’t feel comfortable with poaching the eggs in the broth, poach them prior then serve a poached egg per bowl over the stew.

This is what the poached egg in beef stew looks like.  I was a little hesitant myself to do this as I was like “Really?!  Poached eggs in a beef stew?  Were they mad?!”  Turns out this adds a really nice creamy flavor to the stew.  I recommend this part highly!

When scooping out your stew make sure to get at least one poached egg to be broken in the bowl.  Add cheese and server forth!