One of those dishes for a wintery Sunday evening. Do use a velvety Pinot Noir from Burgundy and must accompany the dish with an equally nice bottle to drink. Don’t forget those Potatoes Purée (press Link for recipe) that won’t allow any graving to be waisted!
Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg Chuck Beef , cut into medium size cubes (about 5 cm)
- 6 slices Smoked Bacon , thick slices, cut in 1 cm width
- 1 tablespoon EVOO , (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- 0.5 kg Carrots , sliced diagonally into 2 cm chunks
- 2 medium Yellow Onions , cut in 6 wedges
- 2 cloves Garlic , chopped
- ½ cup Cognac , (120ml)
- 750 ml good dry red wine such as Pinot Noir
- 2 cups Beef Broth , (480 ml)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter , at room temperature, divided in half
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 0.5 kg pearl onions , frozen
- 0.5 kg fresh Button Mushrooms , without the stems, thickly sliced
- ½ cup fresh Parsley , chopped, to garnish at the end
- Pinch of Sugar
- Sea Salt
- freshly ground Black Pepper
Bouquet garni, tied together with kitchen twine
- 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
- 8 sprigs fresh Thyme
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Put a large Dutch oven over medium heat and drizzle in the oil. Add the bacon and cook for 8-10 minutes until crisp, tossing and stirring once a minute. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate on paper towel and set aside to use for the garnish. Preheat the oven to 130 degrees C
- Dry the beef with kitchen paper towel and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the beef to the pot with the bacon fat in batches and sear until browned on all sides. Set aside.
- Put the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pot on medium heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the Cognac and ignite to burn off the alcohol and scrap the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
- Return the meat into the pot with the juices. Add the wine and the beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and the bouquet garni. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot tightly with a lid and place it in the oven for about 1 hour and thirty minutes. Meat and vegetables should be very tender when pierced with a fork.
- In a medium pan over medium-low fire, heat 2 tablespoons of butter, add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms start to brown, about, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the pearl onions and cook until onions are heated through. Keep the aside.
- Combine the rest 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork. Keep aside.
- When the meat and vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork, open the top of the pot and stir into the stew the butter/flour mixture, the mushrooms and the pearl onions, along with the pinch of sugar to balance out the acidity of the red wine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Turn the heat up slightly to bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove (pot un-covered) and then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes longer stirring occasionally, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Remove the bouquet garni. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with the chopped parsley and the reserved bacon before serving.
