For Christmas, Jeff and I received a very nice bottle of French wine from dear friends. Since then, it’s been calling to me from my wine cabinet, asking me to make something worthy enough to accompany that fine bottle. Hello Beef Bourguignon! I’ve always wanted to make Beef Bourguignon, and a few Sundays ago, I had the perfect opportunity. A heavy rainstorm came in forcing us inside, so I decided to make the most of it in the kitchen.
I’ve always wanted to make Beef Bourguignon but have been a little intimidated. Having done it, I have to say, thank God it’s over. No lie, it took all day. I started after a late breakfast on Sunday around noon. We sat down to eat at 6:30 pm. Here’s why this dish takes so long: it requires several sub-processes and if you don’t know that before you start, boy, it’s going to be a long day for you. I reviewed several recipes, including Julia Child’s, so I knew what I was getting into, and even then I was wondering when it would end.
Process one: Browning the meat. Frying the bacon and browning the beef took two more hours. This was surprisingly the most tiring process. I had already been in the kitchen for an hour cutting and prepping the meat and vegetables, so having to fry bacon and 3 lbs of meat for a couple of hours more was demanding. Note: Many recipes, especially the more traditional French ones, call for pork lardons. This is a cut of pork that is very much like bacon, but it is salted, not smoked (like American bacon). If you cook with lardons, then an additional process is needed to boil off some of the extra fat.
Process two: Combining ingredients for stew and simmering over the stove top, then braising in the oven. This was the fun part, as you could tell the dish was coming together.
Process three: Letting the stew cook in the oven for three to four hours. While this wasn’t active cooking time, I was still in the kitchen doing all the cleanup and prep for process four.
Process four: Preparing the onions and mushrooms. This requires a separate skillet for sauteing and stewing for another 40 minutes.
Process five: Typically, boiled potatoes are served along with the meal. Since I have a counter oven, I opted to make roasted red potatoes.
Process six: Wrap up, putting it all together, adding the mushrooms and onions, adding the beurre manie (butter and flour), and letting it blend for a few minutes before serving.
I wish I could say that all the food critics who rave about Beef Bourguignon are wrong. That way, I wouldn’t ever want to go through the trouble of making this again. But, they aren’t. This dish is quite worthy of all the praise. Beef Bourguignon is beyond fantastic and paired with a great wine, it borders on transcendental.
Which means someday, I’m going to be going through the trouble of making this again.
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Ingredients
- 6 slices of bacon cut into strips
- 3 1/2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 3.5 lbs boneless beef chuck roast cut into 2-inch chunks (mine was close to 4 lbs)
- 1 large carrot sliced
- 1 pinch coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper I used fleur de sal.
- 2 tbsps flour
- 1 750ml bottle (3 cups) of red wine (I used a local red blend)
- 4 cups of beef stock I used concentrated beef bullion from a jar and added water as per instructions, divided
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 crumbled bay leaf
- 18-24 small pearl onions
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 herb bouquet 4 sprigs parsley, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 lb fresh white mushrooms quartered
- Optional. 1/2-1 cup beef broth
- Optional. Thickening agent ("beurre manie"): 1/4 cup soft butter (any kind) and 1/4 cup flour mixed together to form a paste.
Instructions
- Prepared herb bouquet, cut up carrots and onions, and prepared the beef stock (it was from concentrate). Also cut up the beef into chunks and the bacon into strips.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- In a 6-quart Dutch oven, saute the bacon strips until golden, and using a slotted spoon, remove and set aside on a plate.
- Dry the beef chucks with paper towels so they would brown more evenly, and started browning them in batches, cooking the meat brown on all sides. Set aside on a plate. The bottom of the Dutch oven should be covered in brown bits (fond). Do not try to discard or scrape off. This is concentrated flavor.
- Add carrots and onions to the Dutch oven and saute in the fat until browned, about 3 minutes. Drain excess fat.
- Add the bacon and beef back to the Dutch oven. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with flour. Toss and place in center of oven for 4 minutes.
- Remove Dutch oven, toss meat, and place back in oven for 4 more minutes.
- Remove Dutch oven and reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.
- Add wine and stock to Dutch oven. Liquids should barely cover the meat and vegetables. Add tomato paste, garlic, and thyme. Bring to a light simmer on the stove.
- Place oven rack on the lower part of the oven then place Dutch oven in for 3 to 4 hours or until the meat is tender and easily pierced with a fork.
- Meanwhile, prepare the pearl onions. Bring a pot of water to boil and add onions for about 2 minutes. Remove immediately and place in an ice bath to stop cooking. When cool to touch, pinch the skins off. Set aside.
- In the last hour of cooking, make the onions. Begin by melting 1 1/2 tbsps butter and 2 tsp of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add pearl onions and toss in the oil until they're browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup beef stock, pinch of salt and pepper, and the herb bouquet.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer the onions for about 40 minutes, until liquid has evaporated and the onions are tender. Be careful...skins remove easily and you want the outside to remain crispy.
- Remove the onions and set aside. Discard the herb bouquet. Add the remaining butter and oil and bring to a medium heat.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes over medium high heat, tossing mushrooms so they are covered in butter, a little golden and dry. Set aside when finished.
- At 3 hours, check the stew. When the meat is tender, take out the Dutch oven and set it on the stove.
- Adjust the consistency if needed. Add broth if it is too thick or has been reduced too much. Add thickening paste if too thin. To use it, just add paste, a teaspoon at a time to the Dutch oven and stir together.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with roasted red potatoes.
Recipe adapted from Julia Child’s beef bourguignon recipe.
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