Boeuf Bourguignon with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
Stew:
4 lbs. Chuck, cubed
2-3 T olive oil
2 cups onions, sliced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 bottle of decent red wine (I used a pinot noir)
Beef broth
1 cup chopped tomatoes
6 ounces of bacon, blanched (in order to remove smoky flavor)
Herb bouquet (parsley sprigs, bay leaf,
3 smashed garlic cloves, 2 whole cloves tied in cheesecloth)
~2 dozen pearl onions
chicken stock
1 t sugar
salt and pepper
butter
~1 pound mushrooms, quartered
3 T flour blended with 2 T butter as a thickener

Potatoes:
1 and 1/2 head garlic (I just had the other half on bread)
olive oil
2 pounds small roasting potatoes
4 T butter
1/2 cup light cream
salt and pepper
Instructions
Stew:
Cook the blanched bacon in a large frying pan with olive oil until brown.
Remove the bacon to casserole dish and brown beef in the grease (salt and pepper a bit) before adding that also to the casserole dish.
Pour out most of the grease and cook chopped onions and carrots in the remainder before adding it that too. Put in herb bouquet and tomatoes.
Pour in red wine and top it off with beef broth. The liquid should just cover the meat.
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1.5-2 hours either on the stove top or in the oven at around 325-350F.
In the meantime prepare the pearl onions by browning them in butter then adding chicken broth, salt and pepper and a teaspoon of sugar, covering and cooking for 20 min, draining any remaining liquid.
Just before the stew is ready, saute mushrooms in butter.
Pull out the stew, drain the broth into a saucepan with a collander.
Put beef in covered serving dish with pearl onions and mushrooms, discarding the chopped vegetables.
Finally, thicken the sauce by cooking it down to about 3 cups and blending in the flour-butter mixture before pouring it over the beef and serving.

Potatoes:
Rub whole heads of garlic with olive oil and wrap with tin foil.Roast garlic in 350F oven for 45 minutes to an hour.
Meanwhile, clean the potatoes and boil in a large pot until soft. Drain and chop.
Squeeze out garlic from the cloves, mash together with potatoes, butter and cream to desired consistency.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

The stew is a take on Julia Child's recipe.