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Spanish Beef Stew with Mushrooms and Sherry

4 to 6 Servings

2½ hours 40 minutes active

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A corner of the Andalusia region in southern Spain is home to sherry, the unique fortified wine that is produced in an area known as the Sherry Triangle. The city of Jerez de la Frontera—commonly shortened to Jerez—is one of the points of that triangle, and also the location of Mantúa restaurant, where chef Israel Ramos taught us his recipe for guiso de ternera, or beef stew. With tender, succulent pieces of beef, silky, supple mushrooms and a braising liquid rich with both sherry wine and sherry vinegar, the stew was familiar and comforting, yet deliciously different thanks to the wine’s tangy, nutty notes and the aged woodsiness and mellow acidity of the vinegar. We adapted Ramos’ recipe, adding turnip along with the carrots and cinnamon to complement the wine. There are many varieties of sherry, each with unique characteristics, but for this recipe simply seek a fino or manzanilla sherry—both are dry, bright and light, and therefore excellent counterpoints for the richness of the beef and mushrooms. If you wish to make a stew with deeper, weightier flavors, try amontillado or palo cortado, darker and more full-bodied types of sherry. As for the sherry vinegar, if you can spare the expense, opt for gran reserva which is aged for at least 10 years and has a smooth, complex flavor, balanced acidity and mahogany hue. If that’s not an option, reserva or any aged sherry vinegar, though less nuanced than gran reserva, will work perfectly well.

4 to 6

Servings

Tip

Don’t use sherry cooking wine or domestically produced “dry sherry.” To get the right complexity and balance of richness and acidity, look for fino or manzanilla sherry produced in Spain. Also, avoid sweet sherry for the obvious reasons.

2½ hours

40 minutes active

Ingredients

  • 2

    tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  • 2

    pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1- to 1½-inch pieces

Directions

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Reviews
Joanna W.
July 29, 2023
Delicious
Not heavy, the sherry cuts the heft of the beef and gives a delightful tang
Donna S.
February 10, 2023
Delicious
Was a little skeptical of the sherry...I'm usually not a fan but I bought a new bottle of Fino (sherry bottles kept for longer than I should have may have contributed to my dislike in the past...) and only used 1 lb of meat and increased the vegetables (added a large parsnip and doubled the mushrooms). It cooked down beautifully and the flavors were superb. Served over pappardelle with a side of roasted broccoli and an organic red!
Keith M.
July 13, 2022
Good Stew - Especially if you love Paprika
This was a good easy stew to make. Not too complicated and tasted great. Has a distinct sweet paprika taste and the sherry vinegar gives it a good balance with the sweet paprika. I didn't wait long enough for the meat to stew so I would recommend going the full time of 1.5 hours to make the meat more tender. Maybe put the meat in first and stew it 30 min then add the vegetables (carrots etc) after the 30 min so they don't get too soft. Loved how there are not too many steps and came out great...I could see also serving over noodles or rice like a Hungarian goulash.
Robin L.
January 20, 2024
Maybe the best beef stew I’ve ever made!
So great. I did a couple tweaks that others have mentioned. More veggies. I added a sweet potato, leeks and celery. I also did not have sherry. I used beef stock, chicken stock and some Marsala. The paprika flavor is delicious. I’ll be making this again.
Jennifer B.
October 23, 2023
Delicious stew
I blasphemed and used marsala, which I read was a colonial attempt to duplicate sherry. But it was delicious anyway. At least I had the sherry vinegar. Nice use for turnips, they really soaked up the flavor.
Kay Ellen T.

Can this be made with beef cheeks and in a multicooker?

Lynn C.

Hi Kay Ellen -

Although we think this could be made as you've suggested, we haven't tested the recipe with these modifications so can't offer any specific instructions.

Best,
The Milk Street Team

Diana L.

This stew was very good. I ended up cutting meat pieces into bite sizes (alot smaller) and when it was done cooking it was not chewy. I have added aged sherry but only 1 tablespoon and it tasted very good. I think it is best to add 1 tablespoon at a time then taste as you cannot remove after you add it.

Mary B.

We're vegetarian, so I adapted this with 1 can jackfruit (stewed/slow roasted) and seared, crumbled beyond beef (added at end), and the flavors were wonderful. Subtle, oak-y, and nuanced.

Michael Y.

This is an excellent beef stew and I will definitely make this again. I used a fino sherry and it worked really well. Anything sweeter would not have worked in my opinion.

Joanne E L.

This was the best beef stew I have ever made. I followed
the recipe exactly as written and added a few shakes of extra sherry vinegar at the end. Ten stars! I will definitely make this again. My extended family loved it.

stephanie e.

We loved this! It was light for a beef stew with lovely flavors. Will make again

Tony L.

Another great soup recipe. I added more onions and carrots. Good for company!

Carolyn S.

I used a couple of potatoes instead of turnip and it was excellent. I'm definitely making this again.

Susan K.

The stew was delicious, prepared just as written, except for using the king mushrooms I had in the fridge.