Beef bourguignon

How to cook it · about 210 minutes

1. Heat the oven to 325F. Pat the beef completely dry with paper towels and season it all over with the salt and pepper.
2. Cut the bacon into short strips and cook it in a large Dutch oven over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes until crisp. Lift it out with a slotted spoon and leave the fat in the pot.
3. Add the olive oil and turn the heat to medium-high. Brown the beef in two or three batches, 3 to 4 minutes a side, without crowding the pot. Set the browned beef aside with the bacon.
4. Lower the heat to medium. Add the chopped onion and the carrots cut into thick coins, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute, then sprinkle over the flour and stir for another minute.
5. Pour in the whole bottle of wine and scrape up every brown bit from the bottom. Add the broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, the beef and the bacon. The liquid should nearly cover the meat.
6. Bring it to a simmer, put the lid on, and move the pot to the oven for 2 and a half to 3 hours, until a cube of beef falls apart when pressed with a fork.
7. In the last 20 minutes, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and brown the quartered mushrooms for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the pearl onions for the last 4 minutes.
8. Stir the mushrooms and onions into the stew, fish out the bay leaves and thyme stems, taste for salt, and scatter chopped parsley over. Serve with mashed potatoes, egg noodles or crusty bread.

Amounts are on the list above — they change with the number of people; the steps do not.