Steve found this recipe in a Sam's Club catalog, of all places. He called and said that he wanted to make it and I admit that I was less than enthusiastic. Turns out, it was fabulous.
Chocolate Beef Stout Stew
Serves 4
3 TBS vegetable oil
2 ½ pounds beef bottom round roast cut into 1” pieces (or equivalent amount of stew meat)
5 medium onions peeled and cut into quarters
1 carrot (we used 2, could use more if you want)
1 quart beef stock
3 bottles Guinness® stout
6 TBS tomato paste (we just used the whole can, small size)
3 sprigs fresh thyme (1 tsp dried)
1 bay leaf
½ pound mushrooms, quartered
½ lb unsalted butter (Use only 1 stick. I can’t figure out where they thought all this butter was going)
½ cup flour
Salt and pepper
Chopped fresh parsley
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Heat 3 TBS oil in large sauté pan over high heat. When oil is hot, add beef, 3 onions, and carrot. Sauté until well browned; remove from pan, drain off fat.
Add meat and sautéed vegetables to a 1 gallon roasting pan or Dutch oven. Add stock, stout, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil on top of the stove.
Cover and transfer to preheated oven. Cook 1 ½ hours or until meat is tender.
In a separate roasting pan (or pie plate) season the remaining onions with salt and pepper and dot with 1 TBS butter. Roast onions for 45 minutes.
Remove stew from oven and use a slotted spoon to remove beef to bowl. Then strain the liquid into a container and discard the vegetables and herbs (We did not throw away the vegetable. We added them back in with the meat).
Over a medium high heat in a roasting pan (we used the same one we had just taken the meat out of), melt ¼ cup of butter and whisk in flour to make a roux. Whisk in a quart of the reserved liquid in and simmer 3 – 4 minutes to thicken. Add the meat (and reserved vegetables) and stir in chocolate until melted.
In a sauce pan, sauté mushrooms in 1 TBS butter and add to stew with parsley.
Serve over garlic mashed potatoes and garnish with roasted onions.
Here are the pretty policemen that escorted the ride. When they came to set the route up, the "ladies" in the front office nearly had a cow about how cute they are. Whatever. One had his hand on my shoulder and I had to warn him that the stud taking the picture is my husband. That certainly made them straighten up!
