Frugal Gourmet'S Beef In Burgundy - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 slices bacon
3 lbs good stewing beef
olive oil (optional) or peanut oil (optional)
3 cups Burgundy wine
2 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
salt, not too much
1 lb mushroom, browned in butter
yellow onion, peeled, chopped, and browned in butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter (Roux)

Preparation

Cut the bacon into little strips, and blanch them with boiling water. Fry gently. Do not burn or darken the bacon. Remove the bacon from the pan and in the fat, brown the beef. You may wish to add a little oil to the pan. (Do not flour the meat before you brown it!) Brown the meat carefully and rapidly and brown it on all sides. Place in a 4 quart casserole.
Add the wine and soup stock; then the tomato paste, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and a little salt. (Not too much salt, remember you used bacon.).
Deglaze the frying pan by putting it back on the heat for a moment after you have removed the beef. When the pan is slightly hot, put a small amount of wine in it and move it around with a wooden spoon. Add this to the casserole.
Bake the casserole in a 350 degree oven for 2 or 3 hours. When the beef is tender, add the mushrooms and yellow onions. Let all of this cook together for about 20 minutes and then thicken with the roux. Serve this dish with noodles or rice and a huge salad or skip the noodles and serve green vegetables instead.
Notes: This is an incredibly good dish. It is also very rich and not low in fat, but served once in a while it is sheer heaven.