Beef Stew & Wine all local

Yesterday I made a beef stew. It was fantastic and I thought I'd share it with you. It was made with local grass fed beef from Kiernan Farms and wine from Whitecliff Vineyards. I used a 2004 Cabernet Franc which we also drank with the stew. The wine was wonderful and worked very well with the dinner. I also used leeks and parsley from my garden.

Here's the recipe.

3 pounds beef cubes
Flour
9 tbs butter
6 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup cognac, warmed
1/2 lb bacon diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
3 cups onions, chopped
chopped parsley
1 bay leef
1 tsp thyme
3/4 bottle of red wine
water
10 whole small onions
sugar
8 mushroom caps
juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Roll beef cubes in flour and brown them on all sides in a skillet over high heat in 4tbs oil, and 4tbs butter.
2. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper, pour the cognac over it and ignite. When flame dies, transfer meat to a three-quart casserole dish.
3. Preheat oven to 350
4. To skillet add bacon, garlic, carrots, leeks, onion, and 2 tbs chopped parsley. Cook, stirring until the bacon is crisp and the veggies are lightly browned. Transfer to casserole with meat and add bay leaf, thyme and wine enough to barely cover the meat. Cover and bake 1 1/2 hours.
5. blend 1 tbs butter with 1tbs flour. After casserole cooks 1 1/2 hours stir this mixture into the casserole and return to the oven. Continue cooking 2 1/2 hours
6. Meanwhile brown small onions in 2 tbs buttter with a dash of sugar and a little water. Cover and cook until onions start to brown and are tender. Set aside in a bowl
7. Saute the mushrooms in the same pan as the onions. Add oil or butter if needed. Brown mushrooms and sprnkle with lemon juice. Add to bowl with onions
8. Add onions and mushrooms to stew when there is 1 hour left to cook. You might also need to add a little water and wine to the casserole as well. Use your judgement.

I served this with blue cheese stuffed potatoes, salad and molten lava chocolate cake for dessert.