Beef Bourguignonne with Egg Noodles

Below is the recipe, cut and paste, from Cooking Light. What I like to do is ignore the many steps listed in their recipe and throw it all (minus the flour) in the crockpot. I place the flour in a separate bowl and pull out about a cup of the liquid from the crockpot and whisk it in with the flour--making a roux--then I add that to the the crock pot and come back in 8 to 10 hours. I don't notice a significant difference between to the two ways of making it--other than time. When making it in the crock pot I use whole mushrooms.

Beef Bourguignonne with Egg Noodles

This hearty entrée actually tastes better when made a day in advance. Warm it up in a Dutch oven over medium heat until thoroughly heated, and keep warm in a slow cooker set to low.

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt, divided

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

2 1/4 pounds beef stew meat

3 bacon slices, chopped and divided

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup sliced carrot

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

1 (14-ounce) can less-sodium beef broth

8 cups halved mushrooms (about 1 1/2 pounds)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 (16-ounce) package frozen pearl onions

7 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles (about 6 cups uncooked noodles)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add beef; seal and shake to coat. Cook half of bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon; set aside. Add half of beef mixture to drippings in pan; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan; cover and keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining bacon and beef mixture. Remove beef from pan; cover and keep warm. Add chopped onion, sliced carrot, and minced garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in red wine and broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add bacon, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, mushrooms, tomato paste, chopped thyme, bay leaves, and pearl onions; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes. Uncover and cook 1 hour or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaves. Serve beef mixture over noodles; sprinkle with parsley. Yield: 9 servings (serving size: about 1 cup beef mixture, 3/4 cup noodles, and 1 teaspoon parsley)

CALORIES 447 (29% from fat); FAT 14.6g (satfat 5.1g, monofat 6.1g, polyfat 1.5g); PROTEIN 32.7g; CARBOHYDRATE 45.7g; FIBER 3.9g; CHOLESTEROL 117mg;