Beef And Mushroom Stew

Total Time: 3 hrs 25 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 slices bacon, finely chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into thick coins
• 1 stalk celery, thickly sliced
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can use less, if you wish)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 lbs stewing beef, in large cubes
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups peeled pearl onions (optional)
• 1/2 lb button mushroom, cleaned and left whole
• 1 cup sour cream (lowfat is fine)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf italian parsley

Recipe

• 1 in a dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter and add oil.
• 2 add bacon pieces to fat and cook, stirring often, until bacon starts to brown.
• 3 add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, worcestershire, and herbs and spices.
• 4 cook, stirring often, until onion is softened (it takes about 5 minutes).
• 5 pat beef cubes dry with a paper towel, if necessary, then dredge in flour until cubes are evenly coated.
• 6 increase heat under dutch oven to medium-high and cook beef, adding a few pieces at a time to pan; let pieces brown before adding new ones.
• 7 when all beef cubes have browned, add wine to pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring and scraping up any brown bits on bottom of pan.
• 8 add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
• 9 reduce heat to low, partially cover pot, and let simmer for one hour.
• 10 stir in pearl onions; if you don't want to be bothered peeling the pearl onions, substitute 1-1/2 cups of cubed yellow onion.
• 11 continue to cook on low heat, partially covered, for another hour.
• 12 remove pot lid and add mushrooms; simmer for 30 additional minutes; beef should be very tender.
• 13 just before serving, remove pot from heat and stir in sour cream and parsley; return to heat to heat through; do not allow to boil.
• 14 taste, add more salt and pepper if necessary, fish out bay leaf (if you can find it) and discard, and serve.
• 15 i serve it with rice (personal preference) but mashed potatoes or egg noodles also work well.