Beef Bourguignon (by G)

I was watching a box set of the SBS series Food Safari the other day and saw Guillaume Brahimi make Beef Bourguignon. I thought to myself, "I have a kilo of beef, 7 carrots, an onion, 2 sticks of celery, bay leaves, salt, pepper - potatoes, butter and milk for mashed potato. I don't have wine, mushrooms, a leek, shallots or thyme but I can probably pick those things up from the supermarket... I'll do it".

And voila - beef bourguignon.  The sauce was not as thick and rich as I had hoped - I realise I added only 2 mashed carrots at the end to thicken rather than 5 mashed carrots - regardless, it was pretty edible. It is supposed to geed 6 - 8 people so I have a little left over for some other time.