Sweet Beef Stew — The Recipe Will Hold You

Fall is beginning in earnest. The Birmingham trees are still green but there is something in the morning air that is different from August, a suggestion of what is coming, the seasonal promise that things will change and then change back, that nothing is permanent including summer, including grief, including the weight of a year and a half in the particular landscape of loss. I have learned to trust the seasons this year in a way I trusted them before but didn't know I trusted them. Fall comes. I know fall comes. I have made oxtail stew in every September of my adult life and I will make it again this September and the September after, and the continuity of this is not a small thing.

Bernice's Table had forty-two people Tuesday. New record. I didn't announce it during the service—this is not a church social program that needs publicity, this is a table that feeds the hungry, and the hungry do not need to know that they are a statistic—but I wrote the forty-two in the back of the sign-in sheet and I told Sister Agnes afterward and she said, "Mother Simms, we're going to need more chicken," and I said, "Sister Agnes, we are always going to need more chicken," and she laughed and I laughed and the fellowship hall smelled like Tuesday evening and purpose and it was good.

I wrote a post this week about oxtails. About the way they require you to commit—you can't make oxtails in a hurry, you start in the morning, you adjust at noon, you finish in the afternoon, and you eat in the evening with the whole day's effort in the bowl, which means the food has the flavor not just of the ingredients but of the time you gave it. I said that most of the best things require that: a whole day given freely, without resentment, without watching the clock. The post got a response from a man in Atlanta who said he made oxtails every Thanksgiving with his father until his father died and he hadn't made them since because he couldn't face the recipe alone. He said he was going to try this year. I said: try. The recipe will hold you. That's what recipes do.

The man in Atlanta reminded me that a recipe is never just a recipe — it is the whole architecture of the day you gave it, the people who sat at the table when it was finished. I cannot send him my oxtails through a screen, but I can share the closest thing in my repertoire: this sweet beef stew that asks the same thing oxtails ask, which is your time, your patience, your willingness to stay home and tend something all day long. It is the kind of dish I make when I need to be reminded that slow work is good work, that the kitchen is a sanctuary, and that — as I told him — the recipe will hold you.

Sweet Beef Stew

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 3 hrs | Total Time: 3 hrs 25 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water (optional, for thickening)
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

1. Season and sear the beef. Pat the beef cubes dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the beef on all sides until deeply browned, about 3–4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
2. Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion to the same pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1–2 minutes more, until fragrant and the paste darkens slightly.
3. Add the sweet and savory layers. Stir in the brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and apple cider vinegar, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let it bubble for 1 minute.
4. Simmer low and slow. Return the beef to the pot. Pour in the beef broth and crushed tomatoes. Add the thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour 45 minutes, until the beef is beginning to turn tender.
5. Add the vegetables. Stir in the carrots, potatoes, and celery. Cover and continue to simmer for another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the vegetables are soft and the beef is fork-tender and yielding.
6. Adjust and finish. Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasoning. If you prefer a thicker stew, stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer uncovered for 5–10 minutes until the broth coats a spoon.
7. Serve. Ladle into deep bowls and finish with fresh parsley. Best eaten at the end of a long, purposeful day.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 710mg