Recipe#1435

Title: Beef Bourguignon 06

rec.food.recipes archive

1/2 lb bacon, coarsely chopped
 2 lbs steak, chopped into 2cm cubes
 1 lb onions (pearl for traditionalists, coarsely chopped if not)
 4 carrots, chopped to 2 cm sections
 1 lb small mushrooms, whole
 3 cloves chopped garlic
 1 1/2 cups beef stock
 1 bottle dry French Burgundy
 1/2 cup Cognac
 2 bay leaves
 flour, butter, salt, pepper
 Cook bacon in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp 
 and brown.  Remove bacon from oven, leaving grease. Coat beef cubes
 with ~1/3 cup flour in large bowl. Make sure that all the flour is
 attached to the beef! Salt and pepper well. Split beef into three
 batches. Saute each batch in bacon grease until brown, roughly 3
 minutes per batch. Add up to 1/2 stick butter if more fat needed.
 Remove beef cubes to plate. Reduce heat, add onions and carrots to
 pan and saute gently until onions are almost tender. When onions
 are almost tender, add garlic and saute for one minute further.
 Remove vegetables and place in bowl with beef. Add 1 cup stock and
 cognac to pan. Increase heat again and boil, scraping browned bits
 from pan into solution. Reduce to ~1/2 cup. Add meat, vegetables,
 mushrooms, bay leaves, remaining stock, meat juices and red wine 
 to pan. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for at least
 one hour, until meat is very tender. Remove bay leaves. Serve with
 fresh, crusty French bread.