Bœuf Bourguignon

For supper, Karen decided to make this recipe, taken from the most famous of all cookbooks, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Karen was definitely up for the challenge, after all, she did train at the most prestigious of all cooking schools, the Cordon Bleue in France.

With the list of ingredients in hand, we went out to Loblaws and picked up what was needed: bacon, stewing beef, red wine, mushrooms, small white onions, bay leaves, beef stock, and tomato paste.

Our next stop was the Dornan family homestead to pick up a casserole dish, and then back home to get started on the recipe.

The process went something like this:

1. Cook up 4 pieces of bacon in frying pan

2. Take bacon out of the pan

3. Brown stewing beef in frying pan with bacon fat

4. Put in casserole dish with the bacon, add flour and toss mixture

5. Put mixture in oven at 450 degrees for 4 minutes

6. Toss mixture and return to oven for another 4 minutes

7. Stir fry chopped carrots and onions

8. Take mixture out of oven

9. Add carrots, onions, beef broth, and red wine

10. Add tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme

11. Put mixture in oven at 325 degrees for 3 hours

12. Brown whole baby onions in butter

13. Add beef stock, and let simmer for 40 minutes

14. Brown mushrooms in butter for 5 minutes

15. Take casserole out of oven

16. Separate liquid from mixture and skim excess fat off liquid

17. Mix everything back together and let simmer for 5 minutes