Recipe for millionbøf
Million stew is a classic Danish dish that has been served for generations in Danish homes. It exudes genuine grandma’s cooking, which is why it can also be divisive and spark heated discussions in the kitchen: Should it be served in its most traditional form, or can it be advantageously reinvented?
By now, there are countless variations and takes on how to craft the best million stew.
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Traditional Million Stew vs. Reinvented Million Stew
Food is not just a matter of taste but is also strongly connected to memories and stories, both old and new. Most of us can recall the taste of grandma’s homemade rolls and pot-roasted chicken from our childhood, just as we are instantly taken back to last year’s exotic beach vacation the moment we bite into a dish using the local area’s favorite ingredients and spices.
The desire to reinvent traditional Danish dishes, such as million stew, is likely fueled by the Danish love for travel, which has only increased over the decades.
Although many of us have now traveled extensively and have access to a wealth of exciting and exotic ingredients in almost all supermarkets here at home, there is something delightful, cozy, and reassuring about serving the old and beloved Danish dishes.
Staying true to Danish classics, perhaps just for an evening, can be a nice way to come together over tasty, familiar classics that can send thoughts back to “the good old days.”
So, forget all about kangaroo steaks and exotic vegetables for a moment and cook a million stew in its most traditional form.
In this recipe, I played it relatively safe and traditional. Where I come from, there’s plenty of onions and a hint of red wine to give the sauce extra depth.
Millionbøf
Ingredients
- 20 gram Butter
- 250 gram Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 6 gram Salt
- 4 gram Sugar
- 1 pcs. Rosemary Sprigs fresh
- Oil for frying
- 15 gram Tomato Puree fresh
- 500 gram Ground Beef 10-12 %
- 100 gram Red Wine
- 500 gram Beef Stock
- 17 gram worcestershire sauce
- 2 pcs. Bay Leaf
- 12 gram Wheat Flour for thickening, can be replaced with cornstarch
- 100 gram Water for thickening, can be replaced with milk
- Salt and Pepper salt and pepper
- Gravy Color
- Broad leaf parsley
Instructions
- Finely chop onions and garlic.
- Heat a pot, add butter and rosemary, and sauté the onions until they are translucent and slightly browned – add salt and sugar along the way.
- Add tomato paste, beef, and oil, and turn up the heat. Cook it well – the meat should be fried, not boiled
- Add about 100 ml of red wine and stir well. The meat and onions that have stuck to the bottom of the pot should loosen and add a lot of flavor to the dish (this is called deglazing).
- Let the wine simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate.
- Add broth, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and a dash of pepper.
- Let the dish simmer for 10 minutes.
- Mix/shake flour and water together to make a thickening and thicken the meat sauce – experiment to find the right consistency! You may not need it all. If you prefer, you can make a mixture of cornstarch and water, in which case you will need much less cornstarch than flour, and it will be gluten-free.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper and add gravy browning for a lovely dark color.
- Remove the rosemary and bay leaves from the sauce.
- Chop parsley and sprinkle it on top of the millionbøf before serving.
- Serve the millionbøf with a homemade mashed potato or root vegetable mash. Complement with something pickled, like pickled beets or pickled cucumbers.