Greek Beef & Green Bean Stew (GBGB Stew)

This is the second in my YOU CAN COOK series, where I show you how easy it can be to cook a few simple and simply delicious meals at home, from scratch, by yourself and feed everyone you love.

This one I call GBGB Stew or Greek Beef & Green Bean Stew.

This recipe grew out of available ingredients, in other words, I assembled this dish using ingredients that I had in my pantry and refrigerator. And, because my mind typically travels to my beloved Greek Heritage Cooking, this is a typical dish. But it isn't. What I'm trying to say is that 

1. Stewed meats and vegetables are typical of Greek cooking. 

2. Traditional Greek flavor profiles are not complicated, so my onion, garlic, tomato, olive oil mix is quite traditional. 

3. Even though I didn't grow up eating this dish, it tastes familiar, and it's comforting. 

4. While you can also incorporate potatoes into this dish or serve over rice, the best way to eat like a Greek is to have plenty of good crusty bread to dip into the sauce. That's the authentic Greek way. Oh, and don't forget to have good Feta cheese and olives on the side. Greek foodie experience accomplished! Bravo!

NOTE: This is a stew. It will take anywhere from two to three hours of cooking time. 

For a printable recipe, click here and follow along.

The YOU CAN COOK cooking class begins below.

I have a tip before we begin. Don't get stuck in using the exact measurements. There's a video below where I explain this. Let's begin

1. The first thing that we should all do with any first-time recipe is to read the ingredients list and the method (or instructions) all the way through. My cookbooks are filled with notes and regrouping of the ingredients.
2. Did you know that recipe ingredients list the first ingredient to the last in the order that you'll use them? That's helpful, but another helpful tip is to highlight or circle all of the ingredients that you'll need for each step of the cooking. With this recipe: Beef and olive oil, onion, garlic and salt, and so on.
3. You'll need a big cooking pot with a lid (Dutch oven). Place it on high heat to get it good and hot. Then add the oil followed by the beef. Once it's browned on all sides, remove it with tongs.
4. Alternately, place the beef on a cookie sheet and brown it in a preheated 425F degree oven. This saves time. While the meat is browning, you can prep all of the vegetables and measure the remaining ingredients. If you choose this method for browning the beef, pour the olive oil into your pot followed by the onion, garlic and salt.

I always add salt and pepper to the beef before browning. What is listed in the recipe will not change.
This just ensures that the beef is appropriately salted.

Short ribs can have a lot of fat. I trim off most of that before browning. You want enough
on the ribs for flavor, but not an excessive amount. And, if the ribs are rather large, I make a horizontal
cut all the way to the bone to speed up the cooking time a bit.

The beef shortribs can brown in the oven for 30 minutes while you prep the vegetables

While the beef is browning in the pot or in the oven, work on the vegetables

Potatoes are optional. When I use them, I go for fingerling or
baby potatoes (scrubbed clean and cut in half).

Assemble all prepared ingredients before you begin cooking

How large is one large onion? How do I know? Can I use more?

Can I use more beef? Why with bones?

On this particular day, I used fresh green beans. Today, in reviewing the recipe, I used frozen green beans. Unfortunately, they were cut into one-inch pieces, and I didn't realize this until they were in the pot. Not a big problem but, had I been paying attention, I would have added them to the cookpot in the last 30 minutes of cooking so that they don't disintegrate. I use frozen green beans often, but I prefer the longer pieces, especially the whole haricot vert (if they're available). Using frozen ones reduces preparation time considerably, but it's important to know exactly what you're getting.

When I'm pressed for time, I do everything in the oven

Sometimes I have more than one activity going on at the same time. This is when I brown the beef in the oven, prep the vegetables in the 30 minutes that it takes for that step, and then I toss everything else into the large roasting pan, cover with foil and cook at 400F for two to three hours. That's two to three hours that I can be doing something else and not worry about burning my dinner.

The deep dark red sauce is loaded with flavor. Dunk your bread in it to savor it all.
Secret: Sometimes I cook the potatoes separately, mash them roughly and drizzle
this red deliciousness all over them.

Crumble your own Feta. Why? Watch this video for an explanation. It's so many levels up from store-bought crumbled Feta when you buy a block of this authentic traditional cheese and crumble it over each serving. SO much better!