‘North African Beef-and-Carrot Stew with Mint’

Recipe Courtesy of Martha Stewart Living

Recipe Courtesy of Martha Stewart Living

 When I was in southern Italy for my culinary externship last year, an idea that never occurred to me before arriving was what a culinary influence Northern African countries have on the southern regions of Italy.  This North African influence makes sense geographically once you think about it—the geographical distance from the Naples area is actually closer to North Africa than it actually is to northern Italian cities like Milan.  That’s why there is such a heavy influence in southern Italy on the combination of sweet, sour and spicy flavors, typically found in North African cuisine, in one dish. 

When I came across this simple beef-and-carrot stew with mint from Martha Stewart Living magazine, I was immediately drawn to the combination of the cayenne pepper, ground cinnamon, and sweet fresh mint involved in this recipe.  A quick cooking beef stew because of the use of tender sirloin combined with minimal ingredients, you’ll love the taste of the sweet mint with the tender beef and carrots, along with the spice of cayenne pepper and the warmth of the ground cinnamon.  Perfect when served over cous cous with a simple green salad, and a robust glass of red wine.

(To view this recipe, click on the following link: http://www.marthastewart.com/1043867/north-african-beef-and-carrot-stew-mint)

‘North African Beef-and-Carrot Stew with Mint’

  • Prep time:
  • Cook time:
  • Total time:
  • Yield: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Recipe type: Soup

Ingredients:

  • http://www.marthastewart.com/1043867/north-african-beef-and-carrot-stew-mint

Directions:

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Comments: 4

  1. Lexie November 17, 2014 at 10:18 am Reply

    mmmm. I’m making a vegetarian african stew tonight w/ sweet potatoes and peanut butter (sounds strange but I swear it’s delicious). The cow’s on its way to being slaughtered, so once it is, we’ll have to try this out!

    • Personalchef07 November 17, 2014 at 10:21 am Reply

      Hey Lexie. Yum, the vegetarian stew sounds amazing! (I saw a chef on TV last week spreading peanut butter and mayonnaise on a burger, so nothing surprises me anymore! :>) I would love to check out the recipe if you want to send it over. Perfect weather for stew today…cold and rainy here in Atlanta. Hoping you have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week.

  2. Lexie November 18, 2014 at 12:04 pm Reply

    It’s something my mom made when she was here to help out after Josiah’s birth so I don’t have the exact recipe but I’ll tell you what I did last night to replicate it 🙂
    2 lg sweet pots, cubed & simmered/cooked in 2 cups of tomato juice as well as a chopped small onion (added some water as it went on so that there was enough liquid). When the swt pots were cooked, I added 3 stalks of chopped celery (I think my mom did 2 but I really like celery and I like it a bit crunchier so I waited longer to add it), 1 TB grated fresh ginger, some cayenne (she used tabasco but I don’t like that flavor so much) and half a cup of natural peanut butter.
    Cilantro over the top when it’s done. You can add more water if you want it to be a soupy consistency or leave it thicker like a stew.
    Last night I added beans to it and put it over rice so it’d be a complete protein for us.
    I’m sure you can figure out how to upgrade it based on my loose instructions 🙂

  3. Personalchef07 November 18, 2014 at 12:11 pm Reply

    Yum yum yum! Thank you so much Lexie! We are looking forward to meeting Josiah, his photos were adorable…:)

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