Beef Bourguignon

It's one of the most flavorful and satisfying dishes ever concocted inside of a kitchen. Beef and vegetables slow cooked in red wine and beef broth, it's a dish you honestly can't resist. The beef becomes fork tender and the sauce has such a deep and rich flavor, your entire house is going to smell like a French Bistro with this simmering away on your stove. Beef Bourguignon is not a hard dish to make, but it requires a bit of love and some time but I can assure you it's well worth it.

5 strips of tick cut bacon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pound chuck roast cut into pieces
1 large onion (Sliced)
6 carrots (peeled and sliced diagonally)
3 tablespoons of flour
1 bag of frozen pearl onions (14oz bag) 
½ pound of whole button mushrooms
2 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 cups of low sodium beef stock
1 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (750ml bottle)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 sprig of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of sugar
Flat leaf parsley  

Remove the roast from the refrigerator about thirty minutes before you want to begin. Gather and prep the rest of your ingredients so that you have them on hand. 

Cut the chuck roast into about one inch cubes and pat each piece dry with paper towels. Drying the meat is a very important step and ensures the meat sears properly. The dryer the meat when it hits the hot oil, the better the sear will be. When we sear the meat, it locks in the flavorful juices of the meat and also gives us that beautiful brown color on the outside. It's a tedious task, but dry each beef cube thoroughly with a paper towel and then season heavily with kosher salt and black pepper. When it looks like you have too much seasoning on the beef cubes, you've done your job.
 
Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot or a dutch oven over medium heat. Slice the strips of bacon in pieces and cook the bacon in the hot oil until they're crisp.

We want to sear our beef cubes in small batches. If we crowd beef cubes and add too many at once, we'll lower the temperature in our pan and they won't have the right heat to sear properly. Don't move the beef cubes around too much while they're in there either. Give them about a minute or so on each side, just until you see the outside of the meat starting to caramelize. Once all sides have been seared, transfer them to a nearby plate and add the next batch in. Continue this step until all the beef has been seared.

Once all the meat has been seared, add the sliced onion, 2 tablespoons of butter, and the chopped carrots to the hot oil. Stir everything together making sure the flavorful bits left from the bacon and beef get all over the vegetables. Stir and cook the onions and carrots just until the onions become slightly tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Once the onions are tender, return all the seared meat and any of the juices that have collected from them resting back into the pot.

Next, take the 3 tablespoons of flour and sprinkle over top the beef and vegetables. Stir the contents of the pot so that the flour coats everything. Add the entire bottle of red wine, minus a sip or two, and add the 2 cups of beef broth. Add the tomato paste and stir together until the paste is Incorporated into the broth and the wine.

Add the fresh thyme and the fresh rosemary to the pot using kitchen twine to tie the herbs together so that it's easier to pull the stems out before we are ready serve. Throw in the bay leaves and bring the liquid to a boil. Cook the stew uncovered for about 10 minutes. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pot and allow the beef to cook for about 2 hours giving it a stir about every so often.

Add the minced garlic, the sugar, the entire bag of pearl onions, and the mushrooms to the pot. Raise the heat slightly and allow the stew to simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and the bundle of rosemary and thyme from the sauce. Season the sauce to taste.

Serve next to a helping of your favorite recipe for mashed potatoes or over top buttered egg noodles with a side of crispy french bread. Garnish your plate with some freshly chopped parsley and some of the crispy bacon pieces and serve hot.