Beef Stew with Marrow Bones

Lately I have been loving oven roasted tomatoes - they are so versatile: On pizza as a fabulous base sauce or even as an added topping to add that extra bit of zing (oven dried baby tomatoes are perfect for this and are equally as divine as an addition to savoury muffins) or even as a base for a stew, which is what I did in this beef stew recipe.

I learnt an amazing fact about tomatoes this week. Tomatoes by nature are actually alkaline - it is heating them that makes them acidic. If you are prone to heart burn, cooked tomatoes could be the source of it. Raw or sun dried tomatoes would therefore be more beneficial to you.

I am not a fan of fat, so even though I used beef shin in this recipe, I removed all the fat, chopped up the meat and used the shin bones, devoid of fat, but with the marrow still in - I am not too sure if I defeated the whole purpose of beef shin, but it still tasted very flavourful - so I am going to say, no I didn't :)

Beef Stew with Marrow Bones:

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 Onion, Diced
1 Packet Beef Shin, Approximately 500g, cut into bite size pieces and fat removed (Saving the marrow bones, I used 4 bones)
4 Tomatoes, Cut in Half
1 - 2 Teaspoons Oregano
2 - 3 Teaspoons Fructose
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
1 - 2 Teaspoons Paprika

1 - 2 Teaspoons Za'tar Spice

2 - 3 Carrots, Chopped into Chunky Pieces

2 - 3 Celery Stalks, Chopped into Chunky Pieces

Water

A Few Bay Leaves
1 Potato, Chopped into Small Pieces (I left the skin on)
Half a Red Pepper, Chopped into Chunky Pieces
4 - 5 Baby Marrow, Chopped into Chunky Pieces
Fresh Mint and Basmati Rice for Serving

Directions:

Heat oven to 180 Degrees Celsius
Sprinkle oregano, fructose, and salt and pepper to taste over the tomato halves and drizzle with olive oil
Roast in the oven while you are preparing everything else
Fry onion until tender in a little olive oil with a sprinkle of salt
Add the beef shin meat and bones and fry on high until the meat browns
Add the paprika and Za'tar spice and fry for a few minutes

Add the carrots and celery and fry for a further few minutes, stirring all the time to prevent burning

Add just enough water to cover the ingredients in the pot
Add a few bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste
Add the potato
Simmer for about half an hour to 45 minutes
Half way through cooking add the red pepper and baby marrow
About 10 minutes before the end, add the roasted tomatoes
I added half a teaspoon more fructose at this stage
Taste for seasoning
Before serving sprinkle over some fresh mint and serve with basmati rice or any other rice of your choice

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