Without sounding overly dramatic, before I was born, I had already managed to severely **** someone off.
Okay, that did sound awfully dramatic didn’t it? I should explain…
Chinese families are full of superstitions. One superstition that went around was that a pregnant woman is not supposed to visit another. When my mother was pregnant with me, she was unaware of this superstition and her mother asked that she drive her to see her sister in law who was also pregnant. Tragically, the sister in law lost the baby some time later and blamed my mother and I for it.
When I was born, healthy and (seemingly) normal, she resented it even more. She loathed me on sight and for every day after. To this day, her prejudices against me still stand. Even if I bent over backwards to be nice to her I couldn’t change her opinion of me. It is very sad as prejudices often are.
Speaking of prejudices, I understand that people think that chocolate is a sweet item. Put it in savoury and suddenly people whose eyes glaze over in rapture at the sweet stuff suddenly screw up their noses at it in a savoury dish. However dark chocolate can be added to sauces and stews giving it a rich flavour without adding a great deal of sweetness. The Mexican mole sauce is a good example. It’s not sweet, and you can definitely taste the chocolate and it adds a lovely depth to the sauce.
Given the fact that we had just barricaded ourselves inside for the public holiday yesterday, I thought it was time to combine chocolate and red wine, two things I had handy. I cooked it with some beef and create a stew that would warm us while the rain pounded against the windows. I used beef shin, a good cut for slow cooking, and allowed this to simmer away on the stove for two hours. There were aromatics from cinnamon, nutmeg and bay leaves as well richness from red wine. When it came to tasting it Mr NQN pondered the combination thoughtfully before launching into the bowl to retrieve piece after piece dipping in crusty bread and potatoes.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever had chocolate in a savoury dish and what did you think of it? And how did you spend your day yesterday?
Dark Chocolate & Red Wine Beef Stew
An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5-2 hours
- 4-6 tablespoons oil
- 1.5 kilos beef shin or beef chuck, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 stick celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2/3 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup sultanas
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1.5-2 cups beef stock (use 2 cups if you want a runnier consistency to the liquid)
- 50g/1.7 ozs dark chocolate (I used Lindt’s Touch of Sea Salt)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1. In a large pot on medium heat, add a tablespoon of the oil and brown the beef in three batches. Set aside. Reduce the heat to low and saute the onions, carrot, celery and garlic until soft but and fragrant, about 5-8 minutes.
2. Turn the heat up to medium again and add the beef back into the pot. Add the red wine and red wine vinegar and cook it for 5 minutes to evaporate the alcohol. Add the sultanas, bay leaves, cinnamon, nutmeg and beef stock and cook in low to medium heat with the lid on for 1.5 hours.
3. When 1.5 hours is up, melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave. Add one tablespoon of the stew liquid to the chocolate and then stir and then add another 3-4 tablespoons until the chocolate has incorporated the liquid well without seizing. Add the chocolate to the stew liquid and simmer for another 30 minutes and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Scatter pine nuts on top and chopped parsley. Serve with potatoes.
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
69 Comments | Add your own
A fabulous stew! So comforting and flavorful.
I love your bottle and this bouchon! Did you also visit the Café des Fédérations?
Cheers,
Rosa
all i can say is YUM! that sounds like a super delicious beef stew, i need to try it!
I didn’t know about the superstitions about pregnant woman not visiting another
Anyway, always learning…you beef sounds and looks delicious, love the dark color and the addition of sultanas as well…very warming stew, and perfect for a rainy day.
Thanks for this interesting recipe and hope you have a great week ahead Lorraine
This looks absolutely wonderful! I love love love how dark and romantic your photos are here… beautiful!
i’ll make this next week!
I put chocolate in spicy chili. I can’t wait to try your stew…the flavors must be great.
I love the dark photos Lorraine….. and chocolate is definately not a sweet item. Do you want to try some Amedei “9″ 75% to cook with. It fruity and dark and beautiful. Just let me know
Gosh India is too full of superstitions – sometimes I wonder how the believers even manage to take one step without having a piano fall on them!
Trust me you are one of the luckiest people ever
This dish looks fantastic – I love the addition that chocolate is slowly making into savoury food
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
It seems great minds think alike. I too made a beef and red wine casserole while shivering and watching the rain yesterday (but without the chocolate – I think if I’d had some around it wouldn’t have made it into the stew). There is something so comforting about a red wine beef casserole, and calories seem so insignificant when its cold and rainy. Must try the chocolate version next time.
We spent all yesterday preparing the house and a meal for guests who didn’t show! At least we got a nice dinner out of it I guess.
What a lovely mix of flavours indeed, and chocolate is a secret ingredient that adds so much depth that it’s amazing!
Last time I used chocolate in a savoury dish it was a traditional Turkey mole, and it was fabulous
What a shame about your relative holding on to that resentment after all this time Lorraine, surely to know you is to love you?
Yesterday was awful! This stew would have made things so wonderful when rugged up indoors!
That’s a really sad story actually.
But on a positive note this sounds fantastic. I really love sweet notes with meat.
I’m also adoring the dark and moody photography – really clever.
We spent the long weekend watching movies and going out bowling and dumplings and New Shanghai – not too bad really!
Love the idea of adding chocolate to a beef dish… it would give it great depth and a little sweet / bitter note that otherwise would be lacking. I’ve only ever had chocolate in a traditional Mexican mole and I loved it!
I was very envious of your stew last night. I had a batch of one that I made last week in the freezer and had it for dinner!
I haven’t cooked with chocolate before but I’m most definitely not against it.
I am definitely going to make this and adapt for the slow cooker!
My mum came over yesterday with the DVD of Decendants – not exactly the light and funny movie I was expecting at all
The rest of the day was spent refereeing my son & daughter’s arguements – so glad to be back at work, they’re exhausting! We had a friend come over for dinner on Saturday night and had a huge seafood feast and creme brulee for desert so I made chocolate meringue cookies with the egg whites last night, stopped the arguements momentarily.
Chocolate in a savoty dish, yes, I had the opportunity to eat Mole Poblano in Mexico, it’s made with chocolate and chili. It was a very interesting combination
Great recipe, Lorraine, perfect for this weather! I use a lot of unsweetened chocolate in savoury dishes (Willie’s Cacao or Callebaut Cocoa Mass) and it adds a lovely depth of flavour. Wasn’t there a lot of rain last weekend! I spent most of it engaged in therapeutic baking.
Have to try this! Looks delicious! I know in Italy there are several savory dishes that use chocolate (eggplants, pasta, oxtail stew, hare…) but I don’t think I ever tried any…
I love the looks of this. Again, comfort food at its best. Just screaming for a cold night and a bottle of wine.
Chocolate has been a part of savory dishes in Mexico for millennia, although it is often misunderstood. I love chocolate with savory.
Lorraine, this is one recipe of yours which will be tried soonest. Besides the use of chocolate love the sultanas and pine nuts. The first time I had chocolate in a meal WAS actually in Mexico, loving the mole poblano served. However, I had alreadsy had lamb baked in coffee Swedish style so this type of cross-fusion was not entirely strange. Chilli and chocolate came much later. Yes, some cultural beliefs can be unfortunate. Can’t think anything more normal and comforting than two or more ‘preggy pusses’ comparing notes and having a companionable time together
!
I’ve used chocolate in a spicy chili and loved it – this stew sounds divine with the dark chocolate & red wine!
Oh Lorraine. That’s a devastating story. I’m so sorry for the lady who lost her baby, and for your mother and you who had to deal with that woman misdirecting her sorrow and frustration by blaming you. Chocolate is definitely necessary in that situation. Chocolate in all the things
Hi Lorraine, thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe and pictures! Can’t wait to try it! It’s winter time in Tassie and this would be an absolute treat on a cold night!!
Oh gosh…that’s that’s very nice your auntie to have this prejudice against you and your mother…
You have done nothing wrong…and sometimes Chinese superstitions really annoy me lol
I’ve actually never made anything savoury with chocolate in it but it sure sounds interesting and very comforting!
Okay that’s a sexy dish! My outlook on beef stew is changed forever.
I don’t eat beef, but the picture is beyond gorgeous!!!
I know all about superstition and if it ever takes root, it never leaves you. No matter how hard you try to shake it off. Sorry that your aunt blamed you for her misfortune. It’s sad.
As another coincidence, I locked myself indoors yesterday and cooked beef in red wine in an identical pot to yours except mine is blue! What were the odds! My beef was also cooked in red wine but no chocolate! I used bolar blade. Yours looks very rich and delicious. That is terrible re that superstition. I had a similar situation when my sister-in-law became pregnant (after years of IVF) and she phoned to tell me she was pregnant. I hadn’t told her but I was 12 wks pregnant with Alfie. She had a miscarriage a few days later and then I had to tell her I was pregnant. It was tense and awkward for a long time as he was a constant reminder of the baby she lost. xx
Its so sad when people hang on to such things. I spent all of yesterday inside haha – way too wet even to go out for supplies
I LOVE chocolate in wine sauces and Mexican mole. But then again, I love chocolate in just about anything and everything.
That’s such a sad story
I used to screw my nose up at chocolate and fruit with savoury, but I now enjoy fruit in appropriate savoury meals. I’ll have to give this chocolate stew a try as it contains 2 of my favourite things: dark chocolate and red wine. Delicious
This beef and chocholate stew sounds interesting! I’ve never had choccolate as a savoury dish so will have to try this!
Dear NQN
I really enjoy you blog
I also enjoy the character of your accomplice Mr NQN and his likes and dislikes
I am going to try the beef with chocolate and red wine very soon
Thank you
Lindy
Yum. Looks good.
Just last week I made a beef stew (in my much loved slow cooker) and added chocolate to it. I didn’t have any dark choccy though and so I added cooking choc bits! It was yummy and the kids loved that it had chocolate in it! (I paired it with orange juice and zest – good).
I love beef, chocolate and red wine! I made a great chili with chocolate last December and loved it! It’s very hot and humid in our part of the world.
Chocolate in a savoury dish is quite amazing! Love the recipe, Lorraine.
We spent yesterday relaxing! I made beautiful meals over the long weekend. Sunday was a dedicated pyjama day!
MMMMM,…what a fabulous & tasty beef stew. I know chocolate added in a stew is always a winner!
I am more put off by the sultanas in the stew than anything…
What an amazing recipe. Wine and dark chocolate!? I love stew and had tried a lot of new recipes past winter. I’m bookmarking this one and will try. We finally started to got warmer but I have something to look forward to. This looks extremely delish!
A friend’s restaurant has something similar: beef salpi-cacao which features beef braised in garlicky soy and, whilst still hot, topped with dark chocolate callets that melt into the sauce. It’s a smashing combination that gets better with a sprinkling of dried chili flakes.
(Plus, I can sympathise with the idea of having been loathed well before I was born – my paternal grandmother has resented me since my mother announced she was pregnant with me. She still does!)
Funny, just yesterday I read a recipe for chocolate cookies with red wine in them and the blogger was also insisting on that great combination and on how well red wine can work in sweets. I am sure both work well together in savory and sweet, and despite it being summer here, the weather is so atrocious I could almost try yout stew today!
i must cook this!!! i have tried a chilli dish with cocoa and was amazed at the depth of flavour it added so i’m sure this would be good. asian superstitions crack me up – they are just so ‘real’ to so many people.
YUM!! And now is in the list!
Another NQN inspired dish not to be missed!
I make a WICKED Cincinnati chili with chocolate too!
When it comes to using chocolate in dishes, is only limited by my unlimited imagination too!
We did nothing except watch the rain! I would have loved to have tried this dish! My curiosity is getting the better of me, I will have to try it!
Oh my!! That picture is sexy! I’ve heard of add chocolate into beef chili and mole sauce. I’m sure this tastes amazing! I shall do it too next time I make a beef stew.
If I had never tried chocolate in a savoury dish I may have snickers at this recipe and thought ‘no way!’ but I have tried it and it was wonderful! I added dark chocolate to Japanese curry. The chocolate really accentuates the rest of the flavours and makes the dish that much deeper and richer. Truly amazing and delicious, I MUST MUST try your recipe because it sounds even more amazing than curry!
And I just wanted to say, superstitious really is silly sometimes…I hope that relative of yours (it hurts my brain to figure how what you’d call her – aunt? Aunt in law?) would one day realise it’s really not you or your mum’s fault!
I must admit i’m a bit of a stickler for chocolate in sweet dishes, or nicely served on its own. This sounds like a delicious recipe though, and well time for that rotten, rainy long weekend. Thanks for sharing.
Well one thing I’m not missing is the cold rainy weather in Sydney, we’re sitting on 39degrees in Delhi and are currently poolside. Lorraine if you ever venture to India , the Leeka chain of hotels is a must!
I love the look of this dish even though I’m one of those people that can’t get their minds around chocolate in savoury dishes. Chocolate and red wine …what’s not to like!
Always love to throw some chocolate in a stew. This one is different from most of mine, so I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the recipe and photos! Red wine and chocolate–a great combination
Oh My Gosh, that’s a horrible way to feel about your sister and neice! Not to mention there would have been a medical reason!!!
Anyway, this stew is intruiging, I’m bookmarking this1
That’s really sad about your mother and her sister in law.
I love chocolate and red wine together – found it goes well in gravy.
How sad that your aunt never gave herself the chance to know you like we do. She’s hurt herself a lot more than she’s hurt you. Poor thing.
I love chocolate in savoury dishes and sometimes I use it inappropriately.
*Leela*
I understand some people are superstitious, but that just goes too far. You were an innocent child, and she should have been happy for your Mom and nice to you, no matter what. I’m sorry you had to go through that! Having said that, chocolate in savory – definitely! Moles, of course, for one, and sometimes I add some to long cooking chilis. I’m dying to try this – the combo of chocolate and red wine in a beef stew is exciting and I can only imagine the depth of flavor it lends the sauce! Love how dramatic the photo is..the stew looks so rich, dark and wonderful!
Mmm tender beef stew looks great. Dark chocolate goes great with slow cooked beef and weirdly my fave photo is the big chunk of beef shin…must be the carnivore inside huh!
oh dear me yes please! Dad made venison steaks with a rich sicilian sauce on the weekend, and we were just saying how yummy it’d be with a chocolate sauce! mission!
Heidi xo
Chocolate and red wine.. What an interesting combination..Good on ya Lorraine
I Gotta try this recipe!!
How sad for you! I love proper cocoa in savory dishes
Love dark chocolate in most things, but also over roasted beetroot and in any sort of Mexican braise. This looks divine.
Made this tonight and it was just sensational! The chocolate added such depth and richness! Thanks for a great recipe!
What a sad story! Something so sad paired with such a stunning dish! I gave birth shortly before a friend of mine, another American married to a Frenchman. She gave birth on a Friday the 13th and she told me her MIL, coming to see her and the new baby for the first time after the birth (her first visit to her first grandchild) barged in the hospital room and started yelling at my friend, her DIL, about giving birth of Friday the 13th and blaming her for doing it on purpose. Now onto the stew – incredible and I’m intrigued to taste this blend of flavors.
Hi everyone-thanks for the lively comments! Natasha, I’m so glad that you liked it! Thanks for popping in and letting me know!
I have had meals with chocolate but I can’t say I every was blown away by it. This however looks so rich and delicious. Oh and what a terrible story I don’t even know what to say about it, a tragic story which over time has become even worse
i supposedly had some mole that contained chocolate, but i couldn’t taste it. i’m sure i’d love chocolate in any form, though. we’re tight like that.
Whilst I am Asian, I am unaware of this superstition. However I can totally understand the position of your aunt. Your story actually reminds me of me! I had tried for years to get pregnant. After 3 IVF treatments & 2 miscarriages, my SIL announced her pregnancy. Then I miscarried again a month before her baby was born. Needless to say it was an extremely difficult time for the family. Logic tells me the baby is innocent but to this day I am still unable to shake off the resentment. On a happier note, my beautiful daughter was born last year after the 5th IVF treatment. She is an absolute joy, very much like your delicious stew!
Being a vegetarian, I guess I am, in a way, prejudiced against beef, but I love this recipe anyway!
I haven’t tried chocolate in savoury dishes yet. I’m curious though & generally up for trying anything. Besides what could be a better pairing than chocolate & red wine??
Perfect stormy deliciousness. Have also been a bit stew mad….so warming
One Trackback/Pingback
[...] does sound delicious). From Chef in Training: Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn, from Not Quite Nigella: Dark Chocolate and Red Wine Beef Stew, and from Citrus and Candy: Brown Butter Banana Muffins. Share this via:Email Pin [...]
Post a Comment