Northwest Stew with Dried Cherries

Today was the last day of a long winter vacation, spent taking down the Christmas decorations and organizing the garage (our party staging area / clutter stash-it spot for the past two months). I wanted to take advantage of some uninterrupted time in the house to cook something before the rush of the week started up, and I’d had this Northwest Stew with Dried Cherries on my mind since I saw it mentioned on a blog as I searched for another recipe. It’s from one of my favorite, most-used cookbooks: “Simply Classic” from the Junior League of Seattle. Every recipe I’ve made from this book has been a hit, and this one turned out to be no exception. Everyone of us loved it, even the four and two-year olds ate it right up which means it really was a success! I served the stew with mashed potatoes, which went together lovely.

I did make a few changes to the recipe, mainly by including cranberries as well as cherries, cooking the stew completely on the stovetop instead of finishing in the oven, using olive oil instead of vegetable oil, and omitting the sugar. I’m glad I left the sugar out; it was quite sweet with just the dried fruit (I wasn’t able to find dried cherries or cranberries without added sugar).

Northwest Stew with Dried Cherries
Adapted from the book “Simply Classic” by the Junior League of Seattle

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds beef chuck, boneless
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 oz dried tart cherries
6 oz dried cranberries (craisins)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef stock
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, quartered

Directions

1. Cut beef into 1-inch cubes. Combine the flour, salt, allspice, cinnamon and black pepper in a plastic zip top bag. Add beef cubes to the bag and shake to coat evenly. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 of the beef cubes and brown evenly, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Transfer meat to a medium bowl, and repeat with the next two batches of meat, adding a tablespoon of oil before each batch.
2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pot, then add the onions, cherries and cranberries. Cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Then add the vinegar and water and stir to scrape up and incorporate all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Increase the heat to  medium-high and cook until the onions are brown, about 5 minutes more.
3. Add the beef cubes and any accumulated juices back into the pot, along with the wine, stock and mushrooms. Cover and simmer on low heat until the beef is tender, about two hours. Uncover the stew at that point and simmer another 30 minutes so that the liquid thickens. If the stew seems too dry, add more stock or wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.