Company Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 0.5 pound baby carrots 
• 4  bacon 
• 1  bay leaf 
• 1.5 cups beef broth 
• 2 tablespoons butter 
• 3 pound chuck roast boneless cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes dried
• 0.5 teaspoon thyme leaves dried
• 1 cup cooking wine dry red
• 3 tablespoons flour all-purpose
• 8 ounce mushrooms fresh
• 1  garlic clove minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 large onion sliced
• 16 ounce pearl onions frozen
• 0.5 teaspoon pepper 
• 6 servings potato bowls mashed
• 0.5 teaspoon salt 
• 1 sprigs garnishes: thyme chives fresh

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• paper towels
• oven
• ziploc bags
• dutch oven

Directions

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a shallow dish or heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag.
2. Combine wine and oil; pour over meat mixture. Cover or seal, and chill 1 hour.
3. Drain well, reserving marinade.
4. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven until crisp; remove bacon, reserving drippings in pan.
5. Drain bacon on paper towels; place in a zip-top plastic bag, and freeze.
6. Brown beef in reserved drippings.
7. Drain and return to pan; sprinkle with flour, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Add reserved marinade and broth; bring to a boil.
9. Bake, covered, at 300 for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beef is tender.
10. Add carrots and onions; bake 30 more minutes.
11. Melt butter in a large skillet; add mushrooms, and saut until tender.
12. Add to beef mixture. Cool and spoon into a freezer container; freeze up to 1 month.
13. Remove bacon and stew from freezer; thaw in refrigerator overnight.
14. Place stew in a Dutch oven; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
15. Serve in Mashed Potato Bowls.
16. Sprinkle with bacon, and garnish, if desired.