French Beef Stew

Total Time: 14 hrs Preparation Time: 12 hrs Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 lbs stewing beef, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 cups red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 onion, cut into quarters
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 6 slices bacon, diced
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 12 mushrooms, quartered if large
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Recipe

• 1 in a large bowl combine beef, wine, bay leaf, cloves, onion and garlic.
• 2 cover and marinate in refrigerator for 4-12 hours.
• 3 melt 4 tablespoons of butter in large skillet and cook bacon until crispy; remove and set aside to drain.
• 4 remove beef from marinade and pat dry.
• 5 discarde marinade, reserving onion and garlic.
• 6 dredge beef with flour to coat.
• 7 brown on all sides in remaining bacon drippings in skillet, adding more butter if needed.
• 8 place browned beef in oven-proof casserole dish.
• 9 add onion and garlic from marinade, the thyme, beef stock and salt and pepper to taste.
• 10 cover and bake at 325 degrees for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat is tender.
• 11 in skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and cook mushrooms until golden brown.
• 12 stir in crispy bacon and season with salt and pepper.
• 13 when stew is done, serve with mushrooms and bacon and sprinkle with parsley.