Mahogany Beef Stew

If I had to choose my favorite thing about Sundays besides having my family around, it would be cooking. Sunday is a day when I can spend some time in the kitchen creating something comforting and delicious for my family to enjoy.

So this Sunday I decided to make beef stew, but wanted something different than my favorite Guinness Beef Stew (which was my absolute favorite beef stew until about 4 hours ago...).

I came across a recipe for Mahogany Beef Stew on the Epicurious site and was intrigued by the use of tomatoes with Italian herbs along side hoisin sauce. I love both ingredients, so read the recipe, made a few changes, changed the cooking method a bit, and created the most amazing stew.

Some changes I made - I seared the beef in one pan and the onions in another, then deglazed the beef pan with the red wine. I used half the wine required by the recipe and replaced the other half with beef broth. I added some cayenne pepper to cut the sweetness because sweet-spicy works great with hoisin and a spicy ingredient, like in this hoisin steak sauce (red pepper flakes would work very well too). I also doubled the amount of tomatoes, increased the cooking time, and kept it low and slow all day. So if you make this recipe, give yourself about 4-5 hours of cooking time before you plan to eat it.

Ingredients

• 3.5 to 4 pounds chuck roast cut into 2 inch cubes
• For the beef: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp cayenne or red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, 1 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil for your pans
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 c Cabernet Sauvignon
• 28 oz diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, and the juices
• 6 oz hoisin sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 carrots, sliced into one inch pieces
• 1 c beef broth (1/2 c, and 1/2 c mixed with 2 tsp cornstarch)
• Equipment: one large stainless saute pan for searing the beef and one large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot for cooking the stew

Directions

• Toss meat with the olive oil, salt, pepper, flour, and cayenne/red pepper flakes
• Heat olive oil in both the saute pan and Dutch oven, both over medium-high heat
• Add meat to the saute pan, brown on all sides
• At the same time, add onions to the Dutch oven and saute 8-10 minutes
• Transfer the beef to the Dutch oven
• Add wine to the saute pan where you cooked the beef, bring to a simmer and scrape up all the brown bits. Transfer the wine to the beef/onion mixture in the Dutch oven.
• Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, and hoisin to the Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then let simmer over medium/low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so.
• Two hours before you are ready to eat, add the 1/2 c beef broth, the 1/2 c beef broth mixed with cornstarch, and the carrots to the pot.
• Let simmer until you are ready to eat, stirring every 15 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves and serve.

The flavors in this stew were so intense and delicious. I served it with mashed potatoes and LOVED the gravy over the potatoes. I will absolutely make this one again - I'm already excited for leftovers tomorrow!!