Tonight, for dinner, we ate spezzatino. The recipes I found on the internet are all much more complicated than what Marina cooked for us. It's so simple, I think you all need to make this asap!
Spezzatino
2 lbs of stew beef, cubed
1 bottle of good Tuscan wine (Chianti is probably what you will find most readily)
A little or a lot of garlic, depending on your taste
2 tablespoons of whole peppercorns (yes whole, don't even think about cracking them)
Salt to season
In a large pot over medium high heat, brown the beef in batches. When the beef is all done, set it aside and saute the garlic for a minute. Add the beef back to the pot, toss in the peppercorns, empty in the bottle of wine and let the whole thing cook low and slow for 2 - 3 hours. When the beef has turned into little globules of fork-tender-goodness, you are ready to eat.
If you want to be super Italian about this dinner of yours, you need a first course consisting of some kind of pasta dish. Spezzatino is your second course, and secondi are generally served with potatoes (ours were boiled and mixed with chopped parsley). Then, you can have the vegetables, or in our case, a salad. Finally, a dolce, either some fruit or an actual dessert (Marina made us chocolate salami). If you don't have the luxury of just passing out at this point, a shot or three of espresso is called for. Enjoy!
P.S. Chocolate Salami
Crush some plain vanilla cookies, add some sugar, cocoa powder and cream and mash this all together until it is smooth. Mix in some pine nuts and shape into a log. Refrigerate for a few hours and then serve to your unsuspecting guests. (I make no guarantees that your lack of specific ingredient quantities will produce the same results as Marina's supposed lack of specific ingredient quantities.)
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