Veil Nation: Beef Burgundy Stew.

Here's another recipe that's good for a Sunday dinner. I'm planning to make it this Saturday while listening to the opera on WQXR.

Verdi's Aïda

Like the beef bolognese, it's best made a day ahead because it tastes better on the second day. It also freezes really well, like the bolognese.

It's one more from my father-in-law's repertoire of recipes.

Years ago a certain food critic's a son was over for dinner. He liked this Beef Burgundy and asked for the recipe. Then he passed it along to his father. Evidently the father liked it, too, because he published it in The Daily Record.

Everyone likes this dish!

6 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch slices

3 pounds beef chuck, cut in 1-1/2 inch cubes

1 large carrot, sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups beef broth

2 cups burgundy

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 bay leaf

1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1 pound small white onions

It all starts with the browning of the bacon in cast iron pans.

You want to cook that until its nice and crisp. Then remove the bacon and set it aside.

Above is enough beef to double the recipe, which I almost always do. Then I can freeze half. But the ingredients given above are enough for one batch of stew.

But anyway, you want to brown all that nicely in the bacon greese, until the meat is really brown. Then remove the beef and set it aside.

Brown the sliced carrot and onion in the pan drippings.

Next, spoon off the fat and return the bacon and beef to the pan with the carrot and onion. Add salt, pepper and flour, stirring to coat meat lightly.

Transfer the entire contents of the cast iron pan into a slow cooker. Add beef broth, wine, tomato paste, and herbs. Cover the slow cooker and let it all build up to a slow simmer.