Today Miguel, author of Pimientos Verdes , has prepared a recipe that brings back childhood memories: beef stew with mushrooms is a recipe that I remember from the cold months and that my mother prepared with great care for the whole family, also using a cocotte. Let's go for this delicious recipe!

I love the fruits that autumn gives us: chestnuts, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, pomegranates... After eating a lot of raw vegetables during the summer, you fancy other types of more elaborate dishes and, if they are spoon-fed, much better.

Today, for example, I found some chanterelles at a good price at the greengrocer and I thought they would be great in a beef stew. I have also added some chestnuts to complete the dish and the result will not leave you indifferent. When things are done with care and time, it shows. And this stew prepared in a cocotte for more than 2 hours has its reward: my guests loved it.

The cocotte you see in the photo is the new color of the season, mist gray . I find that it is very elegant and looks very nice presented on the table. Christmas is just around the corner, so don't forget to put it on your letter to the Three Kings!

Round cocotte Evolution Le Creuset

Ingredients (for 4 people)

• 750gr diced beef for stewing, I have used shank
• Flour
• 2 onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 500ml good quality red wine
• 250ml chicken broth
• a few sprigs of rosemary
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 12 chestnuts
• 200gr chanterelles
• 1 ounce dark chocolate
• Olive oil
• Salt

Elaboration

1. Salt the pieces of beef and flour them, shaking off the excess. Pour a splash of olive oil in a cocotte and brown the veal. Once golden, remove it.
2. In the same oil (you can put more if you consider it necessary), sauté the julienned onion and the minced garlic cloves together with a pinch of salt for 20 minutes over medium-low heat. Go turning from time to time with a spatula .
3. Add the meat back to the cocotte along with the red wine, the chicken broth and the sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Cook covered over low heat for 1 hour and a half.
4. Meanwhile, peel the chestnuts. To do this, make a cut with the help of a knife and put them in the microwave 4 by 4 for 20 seconds. You see doing it in batches because when they are hot they are easier to peel.
5. When the meat has been cooking for 1 hour and a half, add the chestnuts to the stew and cook for another 20 minutes over low heat.
6. Clean and cut the mushrooms and sauté them with a pinch of salt in a pan with a splash of olive oil for a couple of minutes over high heat. Throw them into the stew and let the whole thing cook for another 10 minutes. Also add the ounce of dark chocolate and rectify the salt stew, if necessary.
7. I have accompanied the mushroom and chestnut stew with potatoes and fried white sweet potatoes.

Round cocotte Evolution Le Creuset