
- 2 pounds grass fed (organic) beef or veal (stew meat)
- 2 heads of organic celery, cleaned and cut in 2-3 inch pieces
- 3 bunches flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 bunches fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 large (or 2 medium) onions, thinly sliced-some as {piaz dagh}
- 1-2 tsp ground saffron (or 6-7 saffron threads seeped in warm water)
- sea salt, freshly ground pepper
- 3 tbs turmeric
- 3-4 tbs freshly squeezed lime juice (or sour grape juice-ab ghooreh)
- vegetable oil (avocado, safflower or oil of choice)
- 2 cups basmati rice (brown basmati rice, or steamed quinoa for a healthier option work well)
1. cook the beef in a deep pot with 1 tbs vegetable oil, 3/4 of an onion, thinly sliced, sea salt, ground pepper, and 2 tbs turmeric-sautee the beef on all sides on high heat for about 5-7 minutes, then add 1 cup water, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to low. simmer for at least an hour-until the beef is tender, but still has some juices left.
2. add 1 tsp saffron about 10 minutes before the beef is ready (after at least 50 minutes), simmer for 10-15 minutes more, then remove from heat.
4. remove the celery from the skillet, set aside, then add the chopped parsley and mint to the same skillet with 1 tbs oil and fry (or sautee) on med/low heat for about 5-7 minutes-there should be very little moisture left in the herbs (see photo below).
5. add the “fried” celery back to the skillet, and combine with herbs.
6. add the cooked stew beef to the celery & herb mixture, combine carefully, then add lemon (or sour grape) juice, sea salt, pepper, the rest of the saffron, and 1/4 of the sliced onions, fried separately (see piaz dagh (fried onion) recipe), plus a 1/4-1/2 cup filtered water. allow the stew to simmer on low heat for about 40-45 minutes, and up to an hour. as the stew cooks, taste it and adjust the salt and lemon juice as needed.