Honey In A Stew, Beef - That Is! - cooking recipe

Ingredients

several slices bacon
3 lb. (at least) lean boneless beef in large pieces
1/2 (10 1/2 oz.) can beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 3 c. good dry red wine
6 to 8 small onions, coarsely cut up
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms, drained and chopped (reserve liquid)
butter and parsley (fresh or dried)

Preparation

Simmer bacon in a little water (about 10 minutes); drain and dry. Cut in 1/2 inch pieces. Place bacon in heavy skillet and fry until crisp. Remove bacon. Coat the beef pieces with flour and after adding a little oil to bacon fat, brown beef fairly well. Transfer the browned beef and bacon pieces to whatever large pot you will cook it in over direct heat. A heavy deep pot with cover is best. Add a little of the wine to the skillet where the meat was browned; swish it around to get it all out and empty in big pot with meat. Add beef bouillon, tomato paste, salt and pepper and garlic. Pour in enough wine to cover meat. Place over direct heat and bring up to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat 3 to 4 hours. Peel onions and cut in coarse pieces. Peel and cut (coarsely) a few carrots. Drain mushrooms well (retain liquid) and wash thoroughly. Cut up and saute in a little butter. When the stew has cooked at least 1 1/2 hours, add the vegetables and liquid. If a lot of the liquid has cooked out of the stew, you can add more of the canned bouillon and more wine as needed. Simmer until all ingredients are tender.