The Boeuf Bourguignon

Photo credit: © Eatwell101.comA French classic. This Delicious beef, braised in red wine with  bacon, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, and mushrooms has been elevated to fine dining stature. What, essentially, makes a beef Bourguignon? The secret is the red wine: heavy bodied with a distinctive and strong flavor. The overtly rich flavor of this classic stew preparation captures the meltingly essence of beef meat. The result is a hearty and comforting crowd pleaser that is perfect for a cold fall or winter night.

Difficulty: easy
Resting: 18 hours
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking: 3h30

Ingredients  list for the Boeuf Bourguignon recipe

Serves 8:

• 4lbs (2kg) lean diced beef
• 1 stick or 2 veal marrow bones
• 1/2 lb (250g) pork belly half salt
• 3 pints (1.5l) of red wine
• 35 small pearl onions
• 1lb (400g) button mushrooms
• 5 1/3 oz(150g) butter
• 1 large onion
• 3 shallots
• 1 thyme sprig
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs of parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 glass (8cl) of brandy (Marc de Bourgogne or Cognac )
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

The marinade:

1. Peel and finely chop the onion and shallots.
2. Make a bouquet garni with thyme, bay leaf and parsley.
3. Cut the meat into 2 inches (5cm) square cubes and place in a large bowl.
4. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil and red wine. and mix well.
5. Pour Marc de Bourgogne (the same amount as a tablespoon of crushed pepper), bouquet garni, shallots and onion, and mix well.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 18 hours, taking care to stir from time to time.

Cooking:

1. Remove beef cubes from marinade, drain and pat dry.
2. Melt 2 2/3 oz (75 g) butter in a skillet over high heat.
3. Brown the beef cubes in the pan on all sides for 3 to 4 minutes. It is necessary that each side is lightly browned. For your convenience, fry first half of the cubes and then the other half. It is not always easy to fry as much meat at once. Browning is very important, it prevents the cubes from coming apart during the long cooking process.
4. Keep the pieces of meat aside on a grid and collect the juices.
5. Strain the marinade and reserve the juice.
6. Remove the bouquet garni, keep the onion and shallot.
7. Peel the garlic cloves and crush them.
8. Heat 25g butter in a large pan or chef pan.
9. Add onion and shallots from the marinade and let it melt 2 minutes.
10. Add the meat and sprinkle with a tablespoon of flour. Mix well.
11. Add the cooking juices from the meat, crushed garlic cloves, veal juice marinade to cover all the meat. If you do not have enough wine / juice marinade, you can fill with beef stock.
12. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
13. Add the bouquet garni.
14. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, covered. Skim and degrease from time to time.

The garnish:

1. Remove the rind from the bacon and cut it into small pieces.
2. Peel and chop the onions
3. Melt remaining butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
4. Fry the bacon for 5 minutes.
5. Add the onions and cook covered for 10 minutes, without browning.
6. Remove the onions and bacon so they do not blacken while mushrooms cook.
7. Melt mushrooms for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Remove mushrooms
9. Add the bacon, mushrooms and onions and pour into the main pot with beef after 2 hours of cooking

Complete the dish

1. Cook covered for 30 minutes, and then complete the last hour of cooking in the oven to let the sauce reduce until it retains a good consistency. A cast iron pot best suits this kind of dish.
2. Serve the casserole directly on the table with steamed new potatoes.

Wine suggestion: You need a wine that can stand up against this explosion of flavor. Young red wine such as Beaujolais Villages, Saint Emilion or a red wine from Burgundy.

Bon appetit!

(This recipe has been originally published on june 2011)