Beef and Mushroom Stew

There's something so great about a nice hearty stew on a crisp fall day. For some reason this recipe didn't call for any red wine, which really had me confused. Not to worry, I found a way to incorporate it into the recipe. On that note, when cooking with wine, the old saying 'that wine is only good for cooking' is really bad advice. You want to cook with wine that you like to drink, because the flavour of the wine is what sticks around after the alcohol is cooked off. I would go one step further and suggest that you plan to serve the same wine from your recipe with the meal. Just make sure you have enough for the recipe, prep and dinner!

Beef and Mushroom Stew (adapted from Canadian Living)
- 2 lb stewing beef, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- salt and pepper
- vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 onion, sliced
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups button mushrooms, halved
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cups new potatoes, cubed
- 1 pkg (14g) mixed dried mushrooms
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup frozen peas

Toss beef with flour, sprinkle with salt and pepper. In dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat. Brown meat, in batches, and adding more oil if necessary. Remove to bowl/plate. Add red wine to pan, and 1/2 cup of stock if needed, bring to boil, scraping up brown bits, pour over beef and set aside.

Heat another tbsp of oil in pan, fry onion, bacon and thyme for about a minute. Add button mushrooms, cook until softened and almost no liquid remains, about 8 minutes. Stir in celery, potatoes, dried mushrooms, bay leaf, 2 cups beef stock, 1 cup water, and beef and any drippings. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until beef is tender, about an hour. Add peas, simmer until heated through. Discard bay leaf and enjoy!