Beef Stew With Caramelized Onions And Red Wine - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 lbs beef stew meat, preferably chuck, trimmed of excess fat
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 cups red wine, such as Pinot Noir
1/2 cup low sodium beef broth or 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Preparation

Cut the meat into 2-inch pieces, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Coat the bottom of a 5- to 7-quart Dutch oven with a thin film of the oil and set pot over med-high heat.
When oil shimmers, add enough meat to cover bottom in 1 layer.
Cook, without stirring, until meat lifts easily from pot with tongs and is well browned on bottom, about 5 minutes.
Turn and brown on the other side, about 5 minutes more.
Transfer meat to a plate and continue with remaining meat, adding more oil to pot on between batches as needed.
When last batch of meat has been removed, add the butter to the pot, then the onions and a good pinch of salt, and cook, stirring often, until onions are softened, about 3 minutes.
Decrease heat to low and sprinkle the sugar over the onions.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are limp and golden, about 15 minutes.
Stir in the flour and thyme and increase heat to high.
Stir 1 minute, then pour in the wine and broth and let liquid come to a boil.
Stir in the tomato paste.
Return meat and any accumulate juices to pot, let liquid come to a boil, then decrease heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender when pierced and sauce is thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Remove from heat and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving to settle flavors.