Braise yourself, Nellie. It's a Beef Stew.

You know.  Nellie Oleson.  From Little House on the Prairie. That prissy spoiled brat who only liked what she liked and refused anyone who took it from her.  Each of us have a Nellie voice in our heads, pouting and screaming when we can't have what we want.  Things like dairy and grains and booze.  And what must we do with that Nellie voice?

That's right! We must beat her into silence. For today we are trying a paleo recipe because we publicly proclaimed we would try to do that for a month.   

Was that a very long-winded nonsensical introduction to justify using the name Nellie in my subject line?  Perhaps.  But it did help me find that awesome GIF.

Recipe #2: Paleo Mediterranean Beef Stew

Choice of libation: I tried to go a little fancier than last time's paleo beverage of...water.  So I Googled "Paleo mocktails" and after my computer was done laughing at me, it directed me to some websites.  One recipe was called The Paleo Cosmo and proclaimed it was "just like that Sex in the City drink!"  Ready for it?  Take some kombucha!  Pour it into a martini glass!  And...that's it.

Nope.  I didn't do that.  But I did muddle some lime and mint and poured in some chilled sparkling water.  And I served it in a martini glass. Not terrible.

Choice of music: Is Your Love Big Enough by Lianne La Havas. I know. I'm three years late on this artist and this album, but oh man I'm glad I found her.  She's 1 part neo-soul, 1 part jazz and 1 part acoustic singer songwriter. So good. Listen especially to the track "Lost and Found." It will make you feel all the feels.

Speaking of feeling all the feels, this will make you feel good about winter. Sweet and salty and comforting and warming. YES.

As mentioned before, the Paleolithic diet consists of mainly meat, vegetables and fruit -- things that might have been consumed by the early humans, the cave men.  I tried to be inspired by that GEICO commercial and short-lived ABC sitcom as I hunted and gathered at Mariano's.

I know.  Raisins.  I was skeptical too. 

But after I added the balsamic vinegar, it really did smell divine.

I thought booze wasn't allowed? Oh well. Who am I to question an internet website?  This is the 2011 Real Compania De Vinos Granacha and it is beautifully complex with notes of dark cherry. 

There are a lot of weird flavors I'm not used to putting together here.  Lemon slices on top of beef? With raisins? Really?  Another new thing to me was braising a stew in the oven. We'll seeeee...

About ten minutes before the stew I prepared the olive pesto with mint and basil.  Though the recipe didn't call for it, I also added some of the olive juice because the blender kept sticking.

Not bad you guys! I would have added garlic had I been thinking correctly, but still pretty flavorful. This will go on top of the stew, right before serving.

Here's the braised stew right out of the oven.  It actually turned out okay, but I think the meat would have been more tender if I had stuck it in a crock pot for 8 hours. When I make this again, that's probably what I'll do.

Oh trust me. I will be making this again.  It might look weird. But these weird flavors all go together to create a wonderful and balanced meal.  The olive pesto really brightens the dish up and the raisins end up complementing the balsamic and red wine.  

And you know me. I will compliment a red wine any day.

stolen and adapted from health-bent.com

2 lb. chuck shoulder, cubed

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

(I also added 1 bell pepper, chopped

and 2 stalks of celery, chopped)

3/4 c raisins

28 oz. can fire roasted crushed tomatoes

1 c red wine

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

1 lemon, sliced and seeds removed

salt and pepper to taste

Pesto:

1 handful of basil leaves

1/2 handful of mint leaves

1/2 c green olives (about 20)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a dutch oven melt your fat (I just used 2 tbsp olive oil). Salt and pepper the cubed chuck pieces, add them to the pot and let them brown on each side. Don’t fidget with them or remove them until you see a visible brown crust on the meat. Remove and reserve on a plate.  To the pot, add the onion, garlic and carrot. Let them sweat and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the meat back to the pot, along with the tomatoes, raisins, red wine and balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine. Top with sliced lemons.

Lay a piece of parchment paper of the the top of the pot and press it down into the pot (I forgot to do this, but it was fine). Place in the oven and braise for 2 hours. Taste the meat, it should be super tender, if it’s not give it another half hour or so.

Once you’re about 10 minutes from the stew finishing; combine all the ingredients for the pesto in a mini food processor. Pulse until everything has come together.

When the stew is out of the oven, take the lemon rinds out, but leave in the flesh…it’ll separate very easily. Swirl in the pesto and serve.