We went up to the mountains in Greece, which I call the “Switzerland of Greece.” The village is called Athanasios Diakos and it’s where my brother in law and sister in law have a holiday home. We arrived to the heartiest stew that lovely Sofi made and it was just so more-ish. I asked her for the recipe immediately and finally got round to making it, especially as the weather has cooled right down. I’m excited to experience my first Autumn, not only in Greece, but in the Northern Hemisphere too.

Ingredients:

• 1kg of Stewing Beef (Beef Kotsi)
• 2 Brinjals
• 1 chopped and diced onion
• Glass of wine (red or white) I’ve used white since I had it open.
• 1 cup of hot water
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper

Method:

Slice the Brinjals and shallow fry in Olive oil. You can pop them in the air fryer, but honestly, being fried in the olive oil gives the Brinjals the most delicious flavour.

Place them onto paper towel to drain any excess oil.

In a Pot, add a little olive oil and a little splash of water and add the onions to cook. If you want the BEST hack to never cry again when cutting onions (and trust me I have tried it ALL) , then you have to listen to my podcast “The Bailey Boost” – here’s the episode: CLICK TO LISTEN

Add your pieces of beef to brown

Add a cup of wine

Add a cup of Hot Water (you may need to add a bit more)

Once it’s boiling, pop the lid on and lower the heat.

Boil for 1 hour to really soften the meat and watch if you need to add more water.

Add salt

Add Pepper

Add your tin of tomatoes

Add the Brinjals back into the pot, give it a good stir

Cook for a further 30 mins.

Enjoy with any side you’d like, a glass of red and preferably by a fireplace.

Here are some pics from our time up in the Greek mountains. I really love being able to show you a different side of Greece, which is usually synonymous with cobbled streets, blue shutters, bougainvillea and the islands: