Classic Beef Bourguignon

matt · 5 November 2023
Date Posted
Ingredients

Beef Stew

  • 6 oz bacon (6 slices or 6oz slab bacon)
  • 2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4 lbs beef chuck, cute into ” cubes (for best results, use a rump roast and cube yourself)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 cups sliced onions
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 3 cups of young red wine (burgundy/cĂ´tes-du-rhĂ´ne/bordeaux)
  • 2 cups beef stock (if you don’t have homemade, buy the best quality you can find)
  • 1 medium herb bouquet (5 sprigs thyme, 2 sprigs parsley, 3 smashed garlic cloves, 1 whole clove tied in cheesecloth or, in my case, a tied-up tea sac)

Beurre manié:

  • 3 Tbsp flour blended to a paste with 2 Tbsp butter
  • Mushrooms & Onions
  • 24 pearl onions
  • Chicken stock
  • Butter
  • 1 1/2 pounds of button or cremini mushrooms, quartered
Body
  1. Blanch the bacon to remove its smoky taste. Drop bacon slices into 2 quarts of cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer 6 to 8 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water, and dry on paper towels.
  2. In a large frying pan, sauté the blanched bacon to brown and crispy slightly. Set them aside and add to the beef before it goes into the oven. Pat cubes of beef dry with a peper towel. Ih a large frying pan over high heat, brown the chunks of beef on all sides in the bacon fat and olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and put them into a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or covered casserole pan.
  3. Remove all but a little fat from the frying pan, add the sliced vegetables and brown them, and add to the meat. Deglaze the pan with 1 cup of wine and pour over the beef along with 2 more cups. Add enough beef stock to almost cover the beef. Add the herb bouquet. Bring to a simmer, cover, and plce in the oven at 325 for 2-3 hours. When finished cooking, the meat should be extremely tender and the liquid should have reduced by almost half.
  4. While the stew is cooking, prepare the onions. Blanch the onions in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Slice the end tips off of the onions, peel the onions and score the root end with 1/4 inch cuts. Sauté onions in a single layer in a tablespoon or two of butter until lightly browned. Add beef stock or water half way up the sides of the onions. Add a teaspoon of sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer slowly for 25 minutes or until tender. The onions should absorb most of the stock. Drain any remaining liquid.
  5. Prepare the mushrooms a few minutes before serving the stew. Sauté quartered mushrooms on high in a few tablespoons of butter and olive oil until browned and cooked through.
  6. When the stew is finished cooking to your liking, remove from the oven and strain over a large sauce pan, pressing so the juices come out, so you are left with all the sauce in one pan, and the solids in the strainer. Discard the stewed carrots/onions, reserving the beef. Rinse casserole dish and add reserved beef to it. Boil the sauce until it has reduced to about 3 cups. Remove from heat and whisk in the beurre manié. Return to heat and simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Pour sauce over stewed beef cubes and fold in the mushrooms and pearl onions. Simmer again to heat everything through, and serve.
  7. You can serve this with the classic pairing of boiled potatoes or buttered noodles. Or the less classic (but my favourite) mashed potatoes, or rice or all on it’s own.