Beef Burgundy

Description
This is a great winter dish. I find that it is very rich but feels nourishing, and of course means you can drink the rest of the bottle. If by chance, you cannot get button mushrooms or they are too expensive, simply substitute big field mushrooms but quarter them, so they are about the same size as buttons.



Ingredients

 * 3 tablespoons butter
 * 3 tablespoons olive oil
 * 500 g gravy beef
 * 2 cloves garlic, chopped
 * 1 slice bacon, chopped roughly
 * 8 pickling onions, peeled and left whole
 * 350 g button mushrooms, whole or cut in half if they are large
 * 125 ml tomato paste
 * 250 ml red wine (whatever you prefer, I usually use a blend)
 * 125 ml beef stock
 * salt and pepper
 * 1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Directions
First prepare the beef, cut any excess fat off and cut into roughly 2cm cubes. Melt one tablespoon of the butter and olive oil over a fairly high heat. Saute the meat in batches, constantly moving it around the pan. It should be well and truly sealed but not cooked through. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining beef, using an additional tablespoon of butter and oil if you need it. Add the last tablespoons of oil and butter to the pan with the mushrooms, onions, bacon, garlic and thyme. Stir until the onions gain a little colour. Add the liquids and tomato paste to the pan, scrape up all the black bits. Now stir in the meat. Lightly season. Turn the heat down to low and simmer covered for two to three hours. Towards the end you may wish to remove the lid to thicken up the sauce. I serve this with bread or pasta, it really depends but I prefer fresh French bread with this.
 * you may need to readjust this at the end
 * alternatively you could use the slow cooker at this point, but you'd have two things to wash up