Mahogany Beef Stew

This was a terrific stew!! The flavors went so well together, we loved it. I had served it over some garlic mashed potatoes....Yummy!!!! I did do a few changes though. I had dredged the chuck roast pieces in a mixture of flour, dry mustard, salt and pepper and garlic powder. Then browned it in batches and took it out and then caramelized the onions and then put back in the beef and the rest of the ingredients, simmered on stove for about 45 minutes. Then I added in the other ingredients with some peas and popped it in the oven for about 1 hour at 350. There was no need for cornstarch because the beef was coated in flour first, so it was a perfect thickness already. Thanks so much for sharing a wonderful recipe evelyn!!

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Absolutely delicious! We followed the recipe exactly to Step #8, using a nice cabernet. At that point, we put the cocotte in the oven at 250 for 3 hours. We then caramelized the carrots over high heat (not fully cooking them through) and set them aside. Everything smelled and looked so good, we also caramelized a package of frozen pearl onions and (separately) about a dozen quartered new potatoes. (Again, just for color, not fully cooked). We added the vegetables, along with the cornstarch slurry, after the meat had cooked slowly for three hours. 20 minutes later, the stew was perfect! The meat and sauce were divine, and the vegetables were just a bit al dente, with a very rustic appearance from the prior caramelization. (Sure beats mushy veggies the same color as the sauce!) When we poured the leftover wine with dinner, we realized the second cup (Step #11) had never made it into the dish. But, with the slow cooking and without that extra liquid, the sauce was the perfect consistency as it was. We ate it as a stew with some corn fritters, but plan to enjoy some of the leftovers over buttered noodles. We'll definitely be making this one again. Delicious!

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Amazing! Not overly complicated to make and the results are fantastic. Best Beef Stew I've ever had. I did add celery and potatoes to the recipe (with the carrots) and I also added a half can of beef broth to just "beef" up the flavor a bit. Everyone raved about this recipe. I absolutely will be making this again.

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I thought the flavor of this was fantastic. It is true comfot food. We served this over mashed potatoes. Mine turned out much thicker than how I think of beef stew. It was more likre beef tips in a very rich gravy. But very delish none the less. Thanks for sharing! UPDATE: For those who do not want to use wine. I have made this substituting grape juice for the wine. It was wonderful. I think you could also use a mixture of grape juice and wine. hope this helps someone. :)

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Fantastic Sunday meal . . .spent the afternoon simmering on the stove, while we trimmed the tree. The family loved it! I added mushrooms,simmered for a bit longer, but followed the rest exactly as written.This is certainly a keeper.

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I made this for supper tonight and it was delicious! The only change I made to the recipe was using only 1/4 cup of Hoisin, otherwise I followed all of the directions. I used a bottle of Pinot Noir my husband and I had yet to drink (of course we drank the remainder of the bottle during the meal). I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans... YUM! Thank you for sharing this recipe!

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Added some carrots and potatoes after cooking the onions. Only 1 cup of wine and 1 cup of water. No constarch. Cooked it on a cast iron dutch oven that lets no heat escape. After browning the meat and onions, I added the liquid and stuck in a preheated 300 oven for 4 1/2 hours and it came fork tender with an incredible flavor. Highly recommend this cooking method.

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This was a fabulous beef stew!! I used a little less hoisin sauce than called for, and followed another reviewer's suggestion of placing the stew into the oven after adding the wine and herbs. I put it in at 250 for a little over 3 hours, then finished the rest of the recipe on the stove. I added celery and potatoes along with the carrots, cooked it for another 25-30 minutes, and it was perfect. I will definitely make this again. Thanks!

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I had to use a recipe from the internet for hoisen sauce but this still turned out really good. The beef was really tender and flavorful. I did add 4 regular size potatoes and a few mushrooms, but other than that made as written. Excellent stew! Thanks for posting!

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Great recipe, adapted it to my likes. Reduced beef to 2 1/2 pounds, added rutabagas and celery. I dislike Hoisin, but wanted to keep Evelyn's thread so reduced it to 1 tablespoon and added 1 tablespoon of dark soy and 2 tablespoons of vegetarian oyster sauce. Increased to 4 garlic cloves and also added a cup of beef stock as it was quite thick when braising. Also, I started this in the morning, simmered it for two hours and turned it off until I returned home from work. Didn't do the crock pot as it usually turns meat chunks into threads sitting in soup. Simmered it another couple of hours with the additional wine. Overall, I think I decreased the wine by about half as my glass was precariously close to the pot and some of the wine slipped into my glass. I also added fresh ground pepper to the meat as well as the stew while simmering and omitted basil and oregano. I also added about a half teaspoon of liquid smoke. This was excellent and a very versatile recipe. Kudos to Evelyn for sharing this!

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I thought the hoisin sauce made this slightly sweet; not my preference. But it was such a nice saucy stew that we enjoyed it anyway! I didn't have time to stand over the stove, so I put everything in the crockpot. I didn't even shred my beef roast- put it in whole and turned it on Low for 6 hours. Then I removed the beef and let it stand while adding the cornstarch mixture to the crockpot. (There's more liquid in crockpot cooking, so I tripled the cornstarch mixture- perfect.) I shredded the beef and put it back in the crockpot, had it on high for another hour. Perfect! Served over MASHED POTATOES! Yum!

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If you haven't tried this recipe, you really should!
Our family loves it. Our teenage boys almost always go back for seconds. My scoutmaster husband asked his scouts to try this stew out, and they all loved it too.
I usually use only 2 cups of onions, and I grate the carrots. My boys will eat the carrots when grated, but not when in chunks. I also don't use the bay leaves -- personal preference, and I never need to thicken the sauce with cornstarch. Additionally, I add 1-2 cups of water as I usually let it simmer on the stove on low for 1.5 -2 hours.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.

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Did not have wine; used beef broth instead. Agree that the flavor is rich and wonderful with the hoisin sauce. Will try with potatoes next time.

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This was great! I strayed a bit from the recipe - but it turned out wonderful. I browned the beef and carmalized the onion and put them in a crockpot. I also added chunks of carmalized butternut squash. I used about 1/4 cup hoisin sauce and only 1 cup of wine (Witches Brew from Leelanau Cellars - which is an autumn spiced red wine). I also added some beef bouillon. Thickend and served over egg noodles. Cooked on low about 8 hours. Will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing.

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Wonderful! I used 1/4 hoisin, added peas, baby potatoes and button mushrooms. What great flavor. I also coated the beef in flour before browning, that way I didn't need to add the cornstarch.

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So good could not complain about any part of this it was so good.It will be cooked in my house for years to come.

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I love this stew!!!! The flavor is amazing. I like to add a bit more hoisin, and some mushrooms. Everyone in the house loves it and its one of the meals I NEED to have left overs to take to work for lunch the next day. I just serve it over eggnoodles (almose like beef burgundy) with a salad and bread.

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This was so good. I followed the recipe exactly as far as the ingredients but not the steps. I browned the meat and then just put everything into the pot. Brought it to a boil and then simmered with the lid on for about 2.5 hours. I then took the lid off, sprinkled some Wondra flour in and cooked it uncovered for about 15 minutes to thicken the gravy. Served with mashed potatoes and biscuits. Fantastic. The meat was so tender it must melted in your mouth. This goes in the "make again" file for sure. Thanks for the great recipe!

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I had only 1/4 c. left of the "critical ingredient" so I apologize if that skewed my results. My husband and son did not like this, and I thought it was just OK. I found it a little too sweet. Sarahbug liked it but also remarked on the sweetness (I don't know if she thought it was a negative). Also, the meat needs to be browned in batches to avoid "boiling" - the juices will evaporate when smaller amounts of beef are browned at a time (I ended up having to drain the meat in order to brown the onions). Also, my carrots did not cook enough.

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Absolutely wonderful!!!! I finished mine in the oven for about an additional hour for the meat to get a little more tender but the flavor was incredible! Thanks for sharing

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