When I think of this dish, I think of Julia Child. Everyone knows that it’s one of her signature dishes. We all have our own little twist on the recipe, but for the most part, it’s the same……..beef, carrots, little mouth watering onions, mushrooms and wine. Ohhhhh yesssss. Wine. It’s hard for me to cook with red wine. “They ” say that you should cook with what you would drink. Don’t use some crappy old wine that has been laying around, that you wouldn’t dare drink. If it tastes blekh in a glass, it’s going to taste blekh in your dish. So that’s why it’s hard for me to cook with wine, because I prefer it poured into a wine glass and sipped. But the wine just makes this dish taste magical. It’s rich and bold in flavor…….a special dish indeed. Use a chuck roast or stew beef for this. Don’t worry, it will be nice and tender…melting in your mouth. Enjoy it with some egg noodles or rice. Your taste buds will be dancing.

Beef Bourguignon

4 slices Bacon, diced
3 pounds chuck roast (cut into big chunks) or stew beef
2 cups of pearl onions, fresh and peeled (you can use frozen)
3 cups red wine (a nice hearty wine……cabernet sauvignon, good red blend, Zinfandel) Don’t forget a sip for yourself! 🙂
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of fresh parsley, minced
3  tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh mushrooms
2 carrots, cut in big chunks

In a large pot, fry up the bacon. In the meantime, coat beef with flour, salt and pepper and brown it in the bacon grease with the bacon. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on medium high till it starts to boil. Then reduce your heat to a simmer and cook for  about 3 hour or until your beef is fork tender. At the last half hour of cooking, you may have to thicken the sauce. To thicken, add 1/2 cup of your broth in a bowl, with about 3 tablespoons of flour. Mix with a fork till smooth. Add to your pot and stir. You don’t want it super thick. Allow to cook and thicken.

Serve with egg noodles. Serves 4.

You can cook this in a slow cooker too. It should cook on low setting for about 5 hours or so.