Beef Bourguignon

Place the beef stock into a medium sauce pan, bring to a boil and reduce by half. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and pepper and toss in beef pieces then toss with your hands until fully coated and there is no flour left in the bowl. Separate the pieces on a plate or platter and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large Dutch oven with an oven proof lid, add olive oil and over medium high heat, add the bacon. Cook until not quite crisp but past the point of raw, maybe five minutes. Once done, use a spider or strainer and remove to a large bowl or plater.

Add just enough beef to the hot bacon fat so that the pieces are not touching. You want to crisp up the sides and if touching or too crowded, the meat will steam instead of searing.

Sear on each side, 2-3 minutes per side and remove to the bowl with the bacon once seared.

Keep cooking batches of beef until all seared.

Leave the pan hot and add onions, finely minced carrot and the three tablespoons of the coarsely chopped garlic and cook and scrape the pan for three minutes.

Add the tomato paste and brown sugar into the center and cook for another two minutes then stir into the onion mixture.

Add the wine and scrape any brown bits left on the bottom.

Add the reduced beef stock, the seared beef and the par-cooked bacon.

Lay the fresh thyme, parsley and bay leaves on the cutting board or counter over a piece of twine then tie tight and add to the pot.

Cover and place in the oven for two hours without removing the lid.

While the meat is cooking, prepare the onions, carrots and mushrooms.

Place a medium pot filled half way with water onto boil. Once boiling, add a little salt then plunge the unpeeled onions into the pot for four minutes. Use a strainer and scoop them out into a bowl filled with ice water.

Once cool enough to handle, remove to your cutting board and nip off root end. Then make a tiny slit on the side and grabbing the other end, squeeze and the onion will pop out. Then with your knife, nip off the opposite end.

Once complete, bring the water back to a boil and place the trimmed onions back in and boil for ten minutes. Remove from the water with a strainer, cool the onions and refrigerate until later in the recipe.

Bring the water back to a boil and add the carrots and cook until just shy of tender. Drain, cool and refrigerate until later in this recipe.

Finally, in a large saute pan over high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and add half the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms until browned and remove to a bowl.

Add the remaining butter and mushrooms and cook again until browned.

Add the first mushrooms back in along with the one tablespoon of minced garlic and cook one minute.

Remove the pan from the burner and away from any flame and add the cognac. The heat of the pan will cook it off and the mushrooms will absorb the flavor. Set these aside in the refrigerator for later.

After two hours, remove the pot from the oven making sure to remember to use oven mitts to remove the cover.

Check the beef, it should be tender, if not cook a little longer. Also check to make sure there is still enough liquid, if not add a little more beef stock or water.

Once the beef is done, add the cooked carrots and place back into the oven covered until the carrots are fully cooked, 10-20 more minutes.

If serving with mashed potatoes, cook those now and hold until ready to serve.

Remove the beef and carrots from oven and add the onions and mushrooms, stir and heat over a low burner just until the mixture is hot. Taste and re-season if needed with additional salt and pepper.

Remove and discard herbs tied with string.

Serve over mashed potatoes.