Kalops

Kalops (Swedish Allspice Beef Stew)

A classic Swedish home stew of beef, onion and carrot, gently spiced with allspice and bay leaf and thickened with a little flour for a dark, glossy sauce. Traditionally served with boiled or mashed potatoes.

Prep

20 min

Cook

150 min

Total

170 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •1000 g (2 lb 4 oz) beef chuck or shin, cut into 4 cm cubes, marbled stewing cut, or null
• •2 tbsp (30 g) butter, or a mix of butter and neutral oil, or null
• •2 medium onions, thinly sliced, or null
• •2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into thick rounds, or null
• •2 tbsp (16 g) plain flour, all-purpose, or null
• •750 ml (3 cups) beef stock or water, or null
• •6 whole allspice berries, lightly crushed, or ¾ tsp ground allspice added at the end, or null
• •2 whole bay leaves, or null
• •1 tsp (5 g) fine salt, plus more to taste, or null
• •0.5 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or null
• •1 tbsp (15 ml) apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, optional, to brighten the sauce, or null
• •1200 g (2 lb 10 oz) potatoes, for boiling or mashing, or null

Steps

1. 1 Pat the beef cubes dry with kitchen paper and season lightly with salt and pepper.
2. 2 Melt the butter in a heavy-based pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in batches, turning to colour all sides, 3–4 minutes per batch. Do not crowd the pan. Transfer the browned beef to a plate.
3. 3 Lower the heat to medium. Add the sliced onions to the pot and cook, stirring, until softened and lightly golden, about 6–8 minutes.
4. 4 Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir for 1 minute to cook out the raw flour taste.
5. 5 Return the beef and any resting juices to the pot. Add the carrots, bay leaves and crushed allspice berries. Stir to coat everything in the floury onion mixture.
6. 6 Pour in the stock or water, stirring to lift any browned bits from the base of the pot. The liquid should just cover the meat and vegetables; add a little more if needed.
7. 7 Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Cover with a lid slightly ajar and simmer very gently for 2 to 2½ hours, until the beef is tender when pierced with a fork and the sauce has thickened and darkened. Stir occasionally and add a splash of water if it looks dry.
8. 8 Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and a small splash of vinegar or lemon juice if the sauce tastes flat. Remove the bay leaves. If using ground allspice instead of berries, stir it in now and simmer 5 more minutes.
9. 9 Meanwhile, boil or mash the potatoes: peel, cut into even chunks if boiling, and cook in well-salted boiling water until tender, 15–20 minutes. Drain well.
10. 10 Serve the kalops hot with the potatoes, ladling plenty of sauce over each portion.