Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Season the beef chunks with salt and pepper and then toss with the flour.

In a large oven-safe pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil over medium. When the surface of the oil is shimmering, add the beef chunks to just cover the bottom with room in between to turn the chunks. Brown the beef cubes on all sides, then remove from the pot to a bowl, and do the next batch.

When the meat is finished browning, add the onions, leeks, celery, carrots, and mushrooms to the pot. If the pot seems a little dry, add a glug of oil.

Cooks the vegetables until the onions and mushrooms have softened and released their moisture, stirring frequently.

Stir in the red wine, and use a flat-edged spatula to scrape up the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, mixing them into the vegetables (this is called fond, and it's a good thing).

Spoon in the tomato paste, paprika, herbs, and cloves, and stir well to mix.

Stir in the can of diced tomatoes.

Return the beef to the pot, along with any accumulated juices, distributing them in an even layer on top of the vegetables.

Pour in enough broth to cover the beef chunks by half. The should still stick out of the broth here and there. Add the Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and the herb sprigs.

Cover the pot with the lid and place in the preheated oven. You'll braise the soup for a total of 90 minutes.

Check the pot at 30 minutes by carefully removing the lid. Add more broth if evaporation has exposed too much of the beef. If the soup is bubbling aggressively, reduce the oven heat to 325ºF and cover again.

At the one hour mark, remove the pot from the oven and stir in the baby potatoes and sweet potatoes. If the soup looks more like a stew, pour in more broth, again leaving the top edges of the beef exposed. Stir in the Better Than Bouillon paste, if using.

You can check the beef for doneness at any point in the cook: Early on, the beef will have a solid, steak-like texture (which is too firm), requiring a knife to cut through. Over time, the beef will become more and more tender until you can easily pull a chunk apart with two forks.

At 90 minutes, check a cube of beef for tenderness — let it cool for a couple of minutes and take a bite. It should be melty tender and easily bitten through with your teeth.

Fish out the bay leaves and herb sprigs (the leaves have probably fallen off the stems; that's okay, just remove the woody stems).

Give the soup a good stir and taste. It probably will not need seasoning at this point, but you can add more salt and pepper, if you like (especially if you skipped the Better Than Bouillon).

For a nice punch of brightness, add the apple cider vinegar and sugar, and give a good stir.