Beef and Shallot Stew

This is a recipe published in Real Simple. I had to wait a while to make it, because you really need a lot of shallots, and most stores only had 2 or 3 left for a while. This dish reminds me of bœuf bourguignon, but with fewer ingredients. I really like how simple it was to make, while still being extremely satisfying. This makes about 4 servings, so we froze some of it. I served it with roasted potatoes the first night (I used fingerlings left over from this recipe), and a wonderful dairy-free risotto the next (so I did eat it more like bœuf bourguignon than soup). You could probably throw some potatoes or carrots in that stew to have a true one-pot meal.

4 lbs chuck meat, cut into 3- to 4-inch pieces, or 4 lbs precut stew meat
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bottle dry red wine
1 ½ lbs shallots, peeled
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
8 sprigs fresh thyme

Heat oven to 300 ° F. Season the beef with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add some of the beef to the pot and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining beef.

Spoon off and discard all but 1 Tbsp of the drippings. Add the wine and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom, for 3 minutes.

Return the beef to the pot along with the shallots and broth. Bring to a boil. Skim any foam. Add the thyme. Cover and transfer to oven until the beef is tender, about 2 hours. Spoon into individual bowls.