Beef Bourguignon

Beef Bourguignon

8 oz bacon roughly chopped

3 lbs well trimmed boneless beef chuck cut into 11/2 in cubes

1/3 c flour

1/14 lbs boiling onions peeled

3/4 pbs carrots chopped

12 cloves garlic peeled

1/2 C brandy

2 750ml bottles of red wine

11/4 lbs mushrooms chopped

1/3 c chopped fresh thyme

1 T tomato paste

2 bay leaves

2 T better than bullion

1 C water

Preheat oven to 325. Saute bacon in heavy dutch oven high heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels. Season beef with salt and pepper, coat with flour. Working in batches brown beef in bacon fat over high heat. Transfer to bowl. Add onions and carrots, cook until light brown. Add garlic sautee 1 minute. Transfer to bowl with beef. Add brandy and bullion and water to pot to deglaze. Scraping up brown bits, about 8 minutes. Add meat and vegetables to pot, add wine, mushrooms, thyme and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Place pot in oven and cook for about 11/2 hours. Until beef is tender! This is one of my favorite hearty winter meals to make. Despite the name, it is very easy to prepare!

Happy Cooking!