The warm season significantly expands the range of dishes that can be prepared with seasonal vegetables and fruits. If you want to diversify your usual menu, try making a prune stew. It can be safely attributed to both the category of delicacies and universal dishes. After all, almost any side dish can be served with it. And prunes will give a unique taste with a piquant sourness and an amazing aroma.
A note to the hostess: how to choose meat and prunes
To make the dish tasty and become a delicacy, special attention should be paid to a number of important nuances. The original prune stew uses exclusively beef or veal - only flesh, no bones. Other types, such as pork or poultry, are absolutely not suitable for this dish. Here is exactly the case when it is absolutely not worth saving on products. Despite the fact that beef is considered quite tough, in this dish it turns out to be soft and tender. But at the same time, you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to spend at least two hours at the stove.
Prunes need to choose the one that has matured enough. Ideally, if it has a sweet and sour taste. Such fruits will not be difficult to preliminarily get rid of the seeds. If you come across not juicy prunes, 40 minutes before using it, you will need to soak it in hot water, the temperature of which should not be higher than 60 degrees.
Grocery list
- Beef or veal (flesh without fat) - 700 g;
- Onions - 5 pcs.;
- Carrots - 2 pcs.;
- Prunes - 200 g;
- Tomato paste - 3 tbsp l. without a slide;
- Sunflower oil for frying;
- Ground black pepper;
- Salt;
- A cauldron, frying pan, or deep saucepan with a thick bottom and sides.
Prune stew recipe
Despite the fact that the dish is considered a real delicacy, the process of its preparation does not require any special culinary skills from you. To begin with, remove the seeds from the prunes in 40 minutes and, if necessary, soak it in hot water.
Meanwhile, rinse the meat under running water and pat dry with paper towels. Then cut it into small cubes across the fibers with a side of about 3-4 cm. If desired, you can beat them slightly with a hammer so that the pieces soften a little. Peel the onions and carrots. After that, chop the onion in half rings, and cut the carrots in half lengthwise and cut thinly in the shape of a semicircle.
First of all, you need to prepare a tomato fry. To do this, take a frying pan and heat it up properly. Pour in some sunflower oil (2-3 tablespoons) and heat it. Put onion half rings in a cauldron and fry them, stirring occasionally, until transparent. Then add the carrots to the onion and saute until the vegetables are nice golden brown. At the end, add the tomato paste and fry it along with the onions and carrots for about 5 minutes.
Heat some more oil in another skillet while frying is in progress, then add the meat and fry until golden brown. If it was previously frozen, liquid may begin to melt. Be sure to wait for it to evaporate to the end. In this case, the time for frying meat can increase by 5-10 minutes. As soon as the meat turns brown, the pan will need to be removed from the stove immediately.
As soon as the meat and frying are done, transfer them to a separate saucepan, pour in 300-350 ml of boiling water and bring to a boil. After that, cover the piece with a lid and simmer at moderate temperature for 1 hour.
After the time has elapsed, add prunes, black pepper, salt to the meat and cook the dish for another 40 minutes.
Divide the finished dish into portions and serve with any side dish, such as mashed potatoes, pasta, buckwheat or rice. Such an unusual dish will surely be a great option for a dinner with your family.
