Moroccan Beef & Sweet Potato Stew

I was given this clay pot early in our marriage as a gift from a friend.  It has sat on a shelf in my kitchen as a decoration and a few months ago, my husband said I should make something in it.  I had to do some research about how to use it and it involved prepping the clay pot (rubbing with oil, soaking in water, drying in a barely warm oven for a day).  Then, I looked through a bunch of recipes to find something that sounded good to us.  The blend of moroccan spices was really good and it smelled great throughout the day as it cooked.  This isn't a last minute recipe and takes awhile, but it was a big hit with my husband and I thought it was delicious.  The kids were so so on it but we made it 2-3 times last winter.  I wanted to share it here so I can find it again and remember what I did!

My directions below are for a dutch oven.  For the clay pot, I did the searing and sautéing in another pan on the stove and then dumped it in the pot before I put it in the oven.  I imagine being a braised meat dish, you could easily adapt this for the instant pot.

Moroccan Beef & Sweet Potato Stew (serves 4-6)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 ½ lbs chuck roast, trimmed and cubed 
1 tsp cardamom 
½ tsp cinnamon 
1 tsp cumin 
1 tsp ginger 
½ to 1 tsp freshly ground pepper 
1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz Diced tomatoes
3 cups beef broth 
2 medium sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1 -2 inch chunks)
15 oz canned garbanzo beans 
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add meat and sear or brown, tossing occasionally to get sear on all sides (about 5 minutes). While meat is browning, measure out the spices (cardamom through pepper mix) and place in small bowl.

Remove meat to platter when finished browning and add onions to the pot. Saute the onions over medium heat 3-5 minutes until translucent and then add garlic for 1 minute (don’t burn garlic). Add ground spices and stir into the onion-garlic mix. Saute spice-onion mix for 1-2 minutes

Add the meat back into the pot, along with the tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Turn the pot to a low simmer and cover. Simmer for 1 hour.

Add the sweet potatoes to the pot and simmer for another 1/2 hour or until sweet potatoes are fork tender.   Add the garbanzo beans and simmer for another 15 minutes.