The Joys of Juniper: Our Favourite Beef Stew, Made Better

When we think of juniper, we think of gin. Hooray! But in Scandinavia juniper berries are also used in cooking, particularly with game. We inherited a jar of them and – once we’d sorted out what they actually were, and assured ourselves that they are not poisonous – we got right to work. First, they featured with lime zest in an oven-roasted salmon dish, then, as the key ingredient in a salad dressing served with duck, and finally, in a beef stew.

Friends, the picture you see up top is no ordinary beef stew (as if there is any such thing!). It is a super-amazing beef stew, beefed up, as it were, with juniper berries and dates. The dates were a gesture toward Ottolenghi (we vaguely remember a beef dish with prunes). And the juniper berries, the reason for making the stew in the first place, made the whole thing magical. Fun fact about juniper: gin is actually made from juniper berries (not just flavoured with them). We’d not thought much about gin before, but when we discovered this, we realised we’d been assuming it was grain-based. Each and every one of the dishes we made had that fruity, ginny taste, but for a fraction of the price!

Should you be lucky enough to get your hands on some juniper berries, here’s what to do: smash them with the flat blade of a wide knife. If you are lucky enough to have good knives, you can also cut through them. Fancy kitchens can do this with a food processor. And then add them wherever you want flavour.

You may have guessed by now that we’re a bit improvisational in the kitchen. But here’s our basic beef stew recipe, as near as we can recreate it.

You will need:

Nothing beyond the basic kitchen equipment (but do make sure you have a big enough pot)
About a pound of fairly lean beef, e.g. skirt steak, cut into roughly 1”/2 cm squares
1T olive oil + 1T olive oil
1-2 large onions, chopped into 1”/2 cm pieces
2 large carrots, sliced relatively thickly
2 large or 5 small potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1”/2 cm thick
3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
5 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1T tomato paste
Salt
Pepper
Juniper berries (or another spice of your choosing)
Stock if you have it
1cup/125 g frozen peas

Directions:

Heat 1T oil over medium. Brown the meat, moving it occasionally to expose all sides to the heat. (We have heard that you don’t need to brown stewing meat and we believe it could be right – but we like the way it makes the kitchen smell early on…) Once the meat has released a lot of juice and you don’t see much red, remove it and put on a plate, draining the juices.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the second 1T of olive oil. Once it’s shimmering, add the onions and then, about three minutes later, the carrots and potatoes. Saute them, lowering the heat if you need to, for about five more minutes, then add garlic, dates, spices, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Tarragon is not at all like juniper, but makes a flavourful stew if you don’t have any juniper handy. But honestly, you can use nearly anything you like the taste of.

Stir everything for a minute or two to mix thoroughly, then add water or stock to cover the meat. Put the lid on the pot and lower; you want it just barely bubbling, or even lower if you’ve got more time. How much time? At least an hour, maybe two, depending on the temperature. Add the frozen peas when you think the meat is just about done. Turn off the heat, stir, and allow everything to sit. Serve with more salt and pepper.

Let us know if you try this – or your favourite ways to season a beef stew!