The grocery store had fresh spinach today! I had originally planned to make a calf liver stew, but that can wait. Fresh greens at a reasonable price always gets priority, especially during winter.
Ingredients:
1 onion
oil for frying
2 tbsp butter
5-6 tbsp garlic paste
2 tbsp turmeric
5-6 tbsp chili flakes
1 tbsp chipotle
1 tsp mustard seeds
200g mushrooms
500g beef
100ml cola - it doesn't matter if it has gone flat
2-3 tbsp cider vinegar
250g spinach
salt and pepper to taste
Cut the onion in half, then slices, and heat a little oil in a frying pan. Add butter when it starts to soften, and stir a little. Once it starts to caramelize, add the spices and keep frying until fragrant.
Slice the mushrooms and add to the pan. Lower the heat and stir now and then until the mushrooms have given up their liquid, and that liquid has mostly evaporated. They should shrink to about half their original size. Remove from the pan and set aside.
While the vegetables cook, slice the meat in bite sized chunks or strips. Add some more oil to the pan, and the meat. If you have a lot of meat, or a small frying pan, you may have to fry the meat in several batches.
Once all the meat is browned, and almost cooked through, add the onion and mushroom mix back, turn up the heat to high, pour in the cola and vinegar and give it a stir.
Tear up the spinach leaves a bit, but not too small, and put them on top of everything else. Turn the spinach after about 30 seconds so the leaves all wilt, then stir it into the meat. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serve with rice. Or bread, if you forgot to turn on the rice cooker. Since I did just that, I kept the broth thin for easier dunking, but if you like it thicker you can mix a little cornstarch with the cola before you pour it in.