Hello Cooking People,

I'm hoping you all might be able to assist me in determining how to fix my stew. Technically, it's an open faced raviole recipe, but I'm going to call it what it is: stew.

To sum up the recipe:

• lamb (1.8lb), carrot, and onion soaking in merlot with thyme sprig (recipe calls for overnight, but it got about 6 hours)
• lamb lightly seared in butter, set aside
• chopped onion and carrot softened in butter
• lamb added back and sprinkled with flour (stirred, cooked briefly)
• wine (400mL) added back and reduced
• hot beef broth (400mL, homemade, previously frozen) added
• simmered for about an hour and a half until lamb was tender
• chocolate (about 100g, 60% cacao) and knob of butter added, seasoning adjusted

Background:

I've made this recipe before, though I don't recall what meat I used (recipe calls for 2lb venison ... I would have used beef, veal, or lamb). I overdid the chocolate slightly because I misread the chocolate package ... calls for 90g, recommending around 50% cacao. Previous editions of this recipe have turned out fine.

Problem:

The stew is bitter. To be more accurate, the broth when tasted by itself is fine, but upon tasting the meat, the stew is bitter.

How do I fix it?

I have a pretty well-stocked pantry.

Thank you,

BlueberryBundtcake