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North African-style beef and marrow bones with dried fruit

Preparation time
overnight

Cooking time
over 2 hours

Serves
Serves 6–8

By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the beef and marrow bones

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2kg/4lb 8oz beef brisket, flat not rolled and cut into two pieces
  • 8 dried figs
  • 10 dried apricots
  • 10 dried prunes
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 onions, quartered
  • 8 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 2 small cinnamon sticks
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • pinch saffron
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 4 beef tomatoes, chopped
  • 4 marrow bones, each about 5cm/2in long, cleaned and soaked in water overnight
  • 500ml/18fl oz beef stock
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish

  • 1 onion, thinly sliced into rings
  • 100g/3½oz plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
  • 4 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
  • 4 tbsp fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped
  • large pinch chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Method

  1. To make the beef and marrow bones, season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a pan over a high heat. When very hot, sear the beef well on both sides until coloured. Remove from the pan and set aside.

  2. Place the figs, apricots and prunes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to steep for at least 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.

  3. Heat the vegetable oil in a casserole dish and sweat the onion and garlic until softened. Add the spices and saffron and cook for 2–3 minutes. Add the tomato purée and tomatoes and bring to the boil. Add the beef, dried fruit and their soaking liquid, the marrow bones and stock. Place uncovered in the oven for 3–4 hours or until tender. You don’t want the dish to dry out, so keep an eye on it and add some water if needed.

  4. To make the garnish, season the onion well with salt and leave to soften for 20 minutes. Heat a deep-fat fryer to 180C. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.) Squeeze the onion dry and dip in the seasoned flour. Deep-fry until golden and crisp.

  5. To serve, remove the beef and slice thinly, spoon over some cooking juices and dried fruit and garnish with the crisp onions, mint, parsley, chilli flakes and pine nuts.

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