Beef Braised in Red Wine

Winter has arrived with the call for us to make the coziest dinners of the year, and this is a recipe you will want to make well into January and beyond.  Beef braised in red wine becomes incredibly tender and will entice you to settle in for a warm night at home. The long braise means plenty of hands-off cooking time during which to enjoy other pursuits while everything cooks up to perfection in the oven.

Alongside aromatics, I prefer to include whole baby carrots in this dish and a generous handful of sweet cherry tomatoes, which burst in the pot. Give everything a good stir before nestling the carrots into the mix partway through the cook time. Just before the braised beef is fork-tender, start preparing mashed potatoes or your favorite side.

Ingredients

3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
2 cups red wine, such as cabernet sauvignon
12 large sweet cherry tomatoes
Preferred stock to cover
1 bunch baby carrots

Braising results in meat with deep color and flavor as well as incredible tenderness. For this recipe, lean cuts of beef will not cook up as tender as chuck roast, which also thickens the sauce in which it is cooked. When cubing the roast, it is fine to remove excess fat from the edges.

Once the pot is removed from the oven, excess fat can be skimmed from the top layer of liquid using a large spoon. The amount of sauce that remains will be partially dependent upon factors such as the size of your pot and how much stock was added.

How to Sear the Beef

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  In the meantime, heat a Dutch oven over medium heat on the stovetop with about 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil or enough to lightly coat the bottom.  Season beef generously with salt and pepper.  Add to pot in a single layer (usually half will fit at a time though this may vary with the size of your pot). Allow for spaces between the pieces so the meat browns rather than steams. Cook until pieces are nicely browned on one side, then turn and continue browning on all sides.  Once beef has browned, transfer to a plate and repeat the process with the next batch.

How to Braise the Beef

Reduce heat to low, wait briefly until fat in pan is less hot, and add onions, stirring often so they do not brown too quickly, and cook until translucent. Some color is fine. Generally the fat from the beef is enough in which to cook the onions, though extra oil can be added if pot seems dry.

Add tomato paste, minced garlic, dried thyme, and rosemary and cook briefly until fragrant. Next add red wine, scraping sides and bottom of pot and returning to a simmer. Run a wooden spoon along bottom of pot to help with deglazing pan and continue simmering until liquid has reduced by half.

Return beef and accumulated juices to pan. Nestle in 12 cherry tomatoes and add just enough stock so that the top of beef is exposed. Return to gentle simmer, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook for 1 ½ hours (full cook time will be 2 ½ hours).

Nestle carrots into pot and continue to cook for the additional hour (small carrots may need slightly less time). Adjust seasoning as necessary when adding the carrots, but keep in mind the liquid will continue to reduce and thicken during the remainder of the cook time.

Skim fat from top of sauce in pot before stirring. Sauce can be simmered gently to thicken if necessary once beef and vegetables have been removed from the pot. Serve with desired side, such as mashed potatoes.