Mains & Sides

INGREDIENTS:

1 (3 ½- to 4-pound, just under 2 kilo) boneless beef chuck-eye roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 ½-inch cubes

Salt

35 grams (⅓ cup) sweet paprika

1(12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed (about 1 cup) or 2 peppers grilled and skin removed (see web site for method)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 teaspoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 large onions, diced small

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch-thick rounds

1 bay leaf

1 cup beef or chicken broth, warmed

METOD:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle meat evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and let stand 15 minutes. Process paprika, roasted peppers, tomato paste, and 2 teaspoons vinegar in food processor until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides as needed.

Combine oil, onions, and 1 teaspoon salt in large Dutch oven (or a stew pot that can be placed in the oven with a tight fitting lid); cover and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften but have not yet begun to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. (If onions begin to brown, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in 1 tablespoon water.)

Stir in paprika mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions stick to bottom of pan, about 2 minutes. Add beef, carrots, and bay leaf; stir until beef is well coated. Using rubber spatula, scrape down sides of pot. Cover pot and transfer to oven. Cook until meat is almost tender and surface of liquid is ½ inch below top of meat, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Remove pot from oven and add enough beef broth so that surface of liquid is ¼ inch from top of meat (beef should not be fully submerged). Return covered pot to oven and continue to cook until fork slips easily in and out of beef, about 30 minutes longer.