Beef and bacon casserole

This is one of those recipes cut out of a magazine years ago and pasted into my recipe book. No family story. However, I'm a bit of a sucker for anything that calls for bacon... and I have passed that addiction on to my younger son who gives this recipe a decided thumbs up.

Oven temperature

160C

Ingredients
500g stewing steak, cubed
50ml flour
50ml oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
200g baby onions/shallots, peeled and left whole
150g rindless back bacon, chopped
50ml tomato puree
5ml each dried oregano and dried rosemary (or about 15ml of fresh)
Pepper to taste (you won't need salt - there's enough in the bacon)
200ml red wine (or beef stock if you're teetotal)
285g can of creamed mushrooms

Method

• Coat meat in flour. 
• Heat oil in a large saucepan and brown meat.
• Add garlic, onions and bacon and saute for 5 minutes.
• Add tomato puree, herbs, pepper and wine and simmer uncovered until the sauce has reduced by half, stirring occasionally. This will probably take about an hour.
• Place meat mixture in ovenproof casserole dish, pour creamed mushrooms over.
• Stir gently, cover and bake until the meat is tender (about 35-40 minutes).
• Serve with rice and a lovely leafy salad (or some veg, if you prefer).