The gourmet comfort food with its thick chunks of beef and fresh vegetables like those you would find just plucked from a garden in the south of france all slow cooked in a rich red wine stock. It is commonly served on a cold day over thick slices of toasted French bread that were given a light butter and garlic rub with sprigs of fresh parsley placed decoratively on top.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices diced bacon
1 ½ pounds chuck beef cut into 1- 1 ½ inch cubes
Salt and pepper
4 carrots cut into diagonal chunks
1 sliced yellow onion
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 cups (plus 1tbsp) dry red wine
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoon tomato sauce or paste
1 teaspoon thyme
5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6oz fresh thick cut mushroom caps
Directions
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.
Cook your bacon in the olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the bacon is lightly cooked on both sides. Remove the bacon (leaving the grease in the pan) and set aside for later use.
Dab your beef cubes with paper towels and then lightly dust them with salt and pepper. Sear the beef in the hot oil for about five minutes or until browned on all sides. Remove your seared beef to the plate with your bacon and set aside.
Toss your carrots, onions, a few dashes of salt and pepper, and 1tbsp of butter in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the onions are lightly browned.
Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes until you can smell that the garlic has blended smoothly into the stew. Add the meat and bacon back to your pot. Next add the wine plus enough beef broth to just cover your meat.
Sauté the mushrooms in 2 tablespoon of butter and 1tbsp of red wine until slightly cooked and purple from absorbing the wine.
Add to the stew. Add the tomato sauce and thyme.
Bring to a light simmer, cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven for about an hour or until the meat and vegetables are very tender and have absorbed enough wine to take on a dark almost purple color.
Fork 2 tablespoons of butter into your flour and stir into the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on the stove then instantly lower the heat and simmer for about 15 more minutes.
Serve warm over buttered french bread with a glass of red wine.
