As the winter continues to blast the region with icy gusts of wind and below-freezing temperatures, the time has come for some hearty fare cooked slowly to add warmth to your home as well as your body.

And what could be more welcome than beef cooked until it falls apart with the touch of a fork? SavorSA offers two complementary yet different takes on braised beef with mushrooms. One is Pot Roast With Wild Mushrooms and Thyme, which is cooked in red wine. The other, Pasta With Braised Beef and Mushrooms, has wine with a hint of  cream.

We also include a recipe for Guinness Stew, an old favorite whose appeal extends far beyond Ireland.

No matter what you cook, just remember to stay warm this weekend.

Recipe: Pot Roast with Wild Mushrooms and Thyme

Recipe: Pasta With Braised Beef and Mushrooms

Recipe: Make Guinness Stew in a Slow Cooker

This variation on an Irish classic stews in a slow cooker, such as a Crock-Pot, for hours before its flavors meld together into a savory whole.

Guinness Stew in a Slow Cooker

8-10 red potatoes, skin on, quartered
6 carrots, peeled, sliced into thick chunks
2 stalks celery, cut in chunks
3 bay leaves, divided use
3 pounds stew meat, cubed
1/2 cup flour
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper
Dash of garlic powder
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, halved
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
10 3/4 ounces beef broth
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning, such as Mrs. Dash
12 ounces Guinness Stout
1 cup frozen peas, if desired

Put potato, carrot, and celery chunks in the bottom of slow cooker or Crock-Pot. Top with 2 bay leaves.

Season flour with a dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder and coat the beef with the flour mixture. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over med-high heat in a large skillet and add 1 bay leaf. Sauté beef in batches, just until browned. Add more oil to pan as necessary for each batch. Remove and set aside.

Add onion and garlic to the same pan and sauté over med heat for a few minutes, then add about half the can of beef broth to deglaze, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

Add meat and onions to slow cooker, top with mushrooms.

Mix remaining beef broth with tomato sauce, onion soup mix, remaining seasonings, and add to slow cooker. Pour in most of bottle of beer (whatever fits, I had a few sips left for me).

Cook 8 hours on low heat. Stir in frozen peas when done, they’ll heat up on their own. Serve with crusty French bread.

Makes 10 servings.

Adapted from RecipeZaar.com

(Photo: Nicholas Mistry)

Many of the people we spoke with after preview screenings of “Julie & Julia” had one thing on their minds: boeuf bourguignon. The hearty beef stew is a centerpiece of one of the movie’s more appetizing food scenes.

Jessica Young was so inspired by the movie that she went out in search of her own copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking. “I’m obsessed,” she says. “Since the movie I have been lucky enough to find a 14^th printing of her first cookbook in Half Price Books (I love that it is used …) and I made beef bourguignon, which I have to say is very delicious!”

COCO Chocolate Lounge and Bistro, 18402 U.S. 281 N., Suite 114, is serving the dish tonight, Aug. 7, as a special.

But if you would rather try it at home, like Julie Powell and Jessica Young, here is Julia Child’s original recipe, lightly adapted  from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and complete with her comments:

Boeuf Bourguignon
Boeuf a la Bourguignonne
[Beef Stew in Red Wine, with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms]

As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf bourguignon. Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man, and can well be the main course for a buffet dinner. Fortunately, you can prepare it completely ahead, even a day in advance, and it only gains in flavor when reheated.

Vegetable and wine suggestions: Boiled potatoes are traditionally served with this dish. Buttered noodles or steamed rice may be substituted. If you also wish a green vegetable, buttered peas would be your best choice. Serve with the beef a fairly full-bodied, young red wine, such as Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux-St. Émilion or Burgundy.

For 6 people.

• A 6-ounce chunk of bacon

Remove rind, and cut bacon into lardoons (sticks, ¼-inch thick and 1 1/2-inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 ½ quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

• A 9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole 3 inches deep
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
• A slotted spoon

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

• 3 pounds lean stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes

Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 sliced onion

In the same fat, brown the vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of pre-heated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

• 3 cups of a full-bodied young red wine, such as one of those suggested for serving, or a Chianti
• 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• A crumbled bay leaf
• The blanched bacon rind

Stir in the wine and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of pre-heated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 ½ to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

• 18 to 24 small white onions, brown-braised in stock.
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 sprigs parsley

• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet and add the onions to the skillet. Sauté over medium heat for about ten minutes, rolling the onions about so they brown as evenly as possible, without breaking apart. Pour in the stock, season to taste, add the herbs, and cover. Simmer over low heat for about 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Remove the herbs and set the onions aside.

For the mushrooms, heat the butter and oil over high heat in a large skillet. As soon as the foam begins to subside add the mushrooms and toss and shake the pan for about five minutes. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat. Set the mushrooms aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim the fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 ½ cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. (Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.)

• Parsley sprigs

For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

From knopfdoubleday.com and www.RecipeZaar.com.