Beef Bourguignonne

Beef Bourguignonne

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4-cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 thick bacon slices, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 yellow onions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
• 1 pound white button mushrooms, halved
• 3 cups red wine such as cabernet sauvignon or Pinot Noir
• 1 cup rich beef broth
• Slow-cooker
• 6 – 6.5, or 7 Quart

Directions:
Place the flour in a large bowl. Season the beef with salt and pepper, add to the flour and stir to coat evenly. Transfer to a plate, shaking off the excess flour. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat cook the ba-con until crisp and set aside. Pour bacon grease from pan. In the same pan, warm the olive oil until almost smoking. Working in batches, brown the beef on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the carrots, onions and garlic to the sauté pan and cook, stirring occasion-ally, until just tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker along with the bay leaves, thyme, parsley and mushrooms. Off the heat, pour the wine into the sauté pan and set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom. Add to the slow cooker along with beef broth, cover and cook until the meat is fork tender, 6 hours on high or 8 – 10 hours on low. Discard the bay leaves.