Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine & Hoisin Sauce

In keeping with my new resolution - here is my food picture of the week:

I adapted the recipe from Epicurious via Bon Appetit.  It was very sweet - even though I did use the recommended Cabernet Sauvignon.  I served it over some very garlic-y mashed potatoes and that made it a very sweet-savory dish and I'm already looking forward to the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce Bon Appétit | February 2002
(My adaptions/substitutions as noted)
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil (Can you believe I was out of olive oil??? I just used a little vegetable oil instead.)
3 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups chopped onions (I had one yellow-sweet onion and one red onion.)
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained (I added 1/2 teaspoon basil & oregano and 1/4 teaspoon thyme to plain diced tomatoes.)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce* (I didn't have quite 1/2 a cup - next time I reduced it to 1/3 cup)
2 bay leaves
1 pound slender carrots, peeled, cut diagonally into 1-inch lengths
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I even had parsley and forget it! OOPS!)
preparation

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Add meat to pot; sauté until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Push meat to sides of pot. Reduce heat to medium; add 2 tablespoons oil to pot. Add onions; sauté until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Mix meat into onions. Add 1 cup wine, tomatoes with juices, hoisin sauce, and bay leaves. Bring to boil. (It seemed like a weird way to brown the beef to me - I was afraid I'd boil it and not get any good brown bits, so I browned the beef in two batches, removed and then cooked the onions and mixed the beef back in)
Reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.(Give it at least 1 1/2 hours - you want the beef to be tender, not chewy!) Add carrots and 1 cup wine. Cover; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, increase heat to high; boil until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes longer. Reduce heat to medium, add cornstarch mixture and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Season stew with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before serving, stirring occasionally.) Transfer stew to large bowl. Sprinkle with parsley; serve.