Beef Bourguignon
If you have never had Beef Bourguignon I highly suggest you try this recipe out and invite some friends and/or family over too enjoy it with. Some say it is a little involved and complicated to make but if you are comfortable with your kitchen it really is easy to make and well worth the time and effort that it takes. One of the many wonderful things about French cooking is taking humble ingredients and transforming them into a masterful dish that not only tastes heavenly but smells and looks just as good, after all we eat with our eyes first! While this dish has been around for quite some time it was really popularized in the states when the great Julia Child had it in her book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". In it she states that Beef Bourguignon is "certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man", and well, I would not argue with her on that. It can be served with just about anything really but is tradtionally served with some preperation of potato, here I served it with Rosemary mashed. And of course you also need some kind of crusty bread to sop up all the delicious gravy that will be on your plate, I suggest you follow my recipe for Crusty French Baguettes. The original recipe calls for slab bacon, or fat back. Not all butcher shops or stores will carry this so you can use regular bacon but I would try and get one that is not overly flavored as you dont want it to overpower anything else, you are really just using it for the fat. If you wish you can technically leave it out as modern beef has enough marbling in it to provide the needed fat for this dish. However you should really try and make it with the fat back as it provides such a wonderful flavor to the resulting dish. I am lucky enough that I have a local butcher that caries it frozen (which is perfectly OK). So put your chef hat on and get your mise en plas going and start cooking this wonderful dish!
Ingredients (Serves 6)
1 6 oz chunk of bacon (fat back)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3-3 1/2 lbs. Beef Chuck steak cut into ~2in cubes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp flour
3 cups young red wine (I used a Cabernet)
1 carrot
1 onion julienned
1 1/2-2 cups of beef stock (plus more for the onions)
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic mashed
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1-2 bay leaves
Blanched bacon rind
2 dark chocolate squares
18-24 small onions, braised in stock
1 lb. mushrooms sauted in butter (I used Cremini mushrooms)
Fresh chopped parsley for serving
Method
*Since there are quite a few things to do for this dish make sure all your ingredients are prepped and ready to go into the pot before you start. Also prepare the onions by peeling them as you would a normal sized oinion (it is a bit tedious)
1. Prepare your bacon slab by removing the rind. Then cut the bacon into lardons (about 1/4"x1/2" in size) and simmer everyting in about 4 cups of water for 10 minutes then drain, dry and set aside
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| May not look very appetizing but it is good! |
2. Pat your cubed meat dry and preheat your oven to 450, you may also want to take this time to adjust your oven rack accordingly to accommodate your casserole dish
3. In your oven proof casserole saute your lardons (not the rind) in a tablespoon of the olive oil for 2-3 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside
4. In the same casserole saute the beef until well browned, remove from pan and set aside
5. Still using the same casserole dish saute the carrots and onions until golden brown
6. Return the bacon and beef to the the casserole and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle with the flour and stir to coat the beef
7. Place the casserole on the middle rack of your oven, uncovered, for about 4 minutes. This is to give the beef a nice crust
8. Remove the casserole from the oven and lower the temp to 300. Then stir in the wine, stock, tomato paste, mashed garlic cloves, thyme, bay leaf, blanched bacon rind, and dark chocolate (you will not taste the chocolate it is strictly for color)
10. Cover your casserole dish (if you dont have a lid use aluminum foil) and place it on the lowest rack in your oven and cook for 3-4 hours. I did mine for 3 1/2 hours and it was perfect
11. While your stew is cooking go ahead and prepare the onions and mushrooms
12. In a frying pan add 1 tbsp butter and the onions and saute until golden brown, add enough beef stock to the pan to almost cover the onions and simmer them for 20-25 minutes (or until most of the stock is cooked off) turning them as the cook, remove from pan set them aside
13. Wash and quarter the mushrooms (you can leave the stems on but I remove them as I am not a fan) and saute them with 2 tbsp of butter until nicely browned, remove from pan and set them aside
14. At the end of the cooking time remove the casserole from the oven and add the cooked onions and mushrooms to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Your sauce should be nice and thick at this point, if you feel it is to thick you can add a little more stock to thin it out to your liking
15. Sprinkle with chopped parsley bring to the table with your side dishes, serve and ENJOY!
If you made it this far I wish you the best with this dish and know you will love it and will continue to make it!
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