From Marc Matsumoto
www.norecipes.com

Cooking Soup: Campbell's Condensed Beef Broth

To see a video demonstration of this recipe click here.
Ingredients
4 oz thick cut bacon
2 1/2 lbs beef stew meat (cut into 1" chunks)
2 medium onions diced
2 carrots diced
2 stalks celery diced
2 large cloves garlic pressed
1 tsp sugar
1/3 C Cognac
1 bottle red Zinfandel (Pinot Noir or Malbec work as well)
1 can Campbell's Condensed Beef Broth
2 Tbs tomato paste
4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 pound cipollini onions blanched, peeled and trimmed
1 pound button mushrooms quartered
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
Parsley for garnish

Instructions:
Put the oven rack in the lower middle position and pre-heat to 275 degrees F.

Use paper towels to thoroughly dry the beef (this aids in browning the meat). Generously sprinkle the beef with salt and black pepper. Heat a large heavy bottomed pot with (like a Dutch oven), over medium heat and add the bacon. Fry until most of the fat has rendered out and the bacon is browned (but not crispy). Transfer the bacon to a large bowl.

Turn the heat up to medium high then add the add the beef in a single layer (you may have to do it in two batches. Brown one side, then flip and brown the other. Transfer to the bowl with the bacon as they finish browning.

Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and sugar to the oil and fry until soft, fragrant and starting to caramelize around the edges. Add the Cognac and allow the alcohol to burn off, using the liquid to scrape up the brown bits off the bottom of the pot.

Put the meat back into the pot along with any collected juices then add the bottle of wine, can of soup, tomato paste, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and allow it to boil for 2 minutes uncovered. Cover securely with the lid and put it in the oven for about 1- 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is fork tender.

While the meat is in the oven, bring a pot of water to a boil and dump in the Cipollini onions. Let the water come back to a boil then drain and rinse with cold water. Peel and trim the top and bottom off the onions.

When the meat is done, move the pot back onto the stove top and add the Cipollini onions and mushrooms to the pot.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Stir constantly to prevent burning the roux until it just starts to turnlight brown. Take the pan off the heat and whisk a ladleful of liquid from the beef into the roux. Repeat with 2 more ladlefuls of liquid, then dump the mixture into the big pot with the beef. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil to thicken the sauce.

Taste it and add salt as needed. Garnish with minced parsley and a crusty baguette.

Marc's Charity:
Friends of the World Food Program
www.friendsofwfp.org
A charity most important to Marc, and the beneficiary of his “Blog for Hunger” initiative. WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, feeding over 70 million people a year, many of which are children in developing nations. This year their contributions are down 50% and the need has grown to reach over a billion hungry people. As a result Marc is eager to make them win! -- Edited by KitchenTableHost at Feb 8, 2010 11:46 AM EST