Stefado - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 lb. lean beef stew meat
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 c. butter
2 1/2 lb. small onions, peeled
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1/3 c. red wine
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced or mashed
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. cumin

Preparation

Season meat with salt and pepper.
Melt butter in a Dutch oven; add meat and coat with butter (but do not brown).
Arrange whole onions over meat.
Mix tomato paste, wine, red wine vinegar, sugar, garlic and cumin and pour over meat and onions.
Add bay leaf.
Place a plate over onions to hold them down while cooking. Cover and simmer for 3 hours or until meat is very tender; do not stir ingredients while cooking!
As you serve, stir sauce gently to blend.