Beef Bourguignon

Here's a great crock-pot/slow cooker meal. Takes about 15 minutes to prep, 8 hours to cook, and is fantastic. It's similar to the Beef Burgundy we had made before but was much better.

Ingredients:
8 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 1/2 cups red wine
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
2 tbsp olive oil (divided)
2 10 oz packages mushrooms, quartered (we didn't have fresh, so used canned instead)
1 1/2 tsp celery salt
2 lbs beef stew meat (or any other meat that is good in a slow cooker)
1 lb bag frozen pearl onions, thawed

Directions:
1. Add first 10 ingredients (bacon through tapioca) to the crock pot and mix well.
2. Warm 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and brown the mushrooms and celery salt. Drain mushrooms and add to slow cooker.
3. Add remaining olive oil and brown the beef in the oil.
4. Add the beef and onions to the slow cooker and mix well.
5. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours, stir well, then cook for another hour. Remove bay leaf just before serving.

This recipe was from The Everyday LC Slow Cooker Cookbook