Pour the meat along with its juices to the saucepan, add the chopped tomato, tomato puree, bay leaf, allspice berries and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer the beef stifado for 1 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened.
What kind of beef to choose for stifado? For a Greek beef stifado (stew), you need to choose large cuts of good quality stewing beef or even better veal, which, when cooked for a long time, become fork tender. The best option for this Greek beef stifado recipe would be chuck (chuck steak), which comes from the upper arm and shoulder of the cow.
The beef and the onions are simmered in a tomato-based sauce along with cognac, red wine vinegar, aromatic spices and herbs. Let your beef stifado simmer for a few hours to allow its flavours to mingle into something much much more! Traditionally Greek beef stifado is served with orzo pasta, rice, hilopittes (egg pasta) or fries.
Peel the onions (but leave whole) and add to the pan, then scatter over the sugar. Sizzle for 5 mins, stirring now and then until starting to brown. Add the garlic, bay, cinnamon stick, allspice, cloves and oregano, and cook for 1 min more. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for another minute, then tip in the beef along with any resting juices.