Cooking Beef Burgundy on the Stovetop

Considered past many to be the mother of all stews, Beef Bourguignon is a French dish fabricated with beef, bacon lardons, carrots, onions and mushrooms irksome cooked in a rich red vino sauce.

For the nearly magnificent stew of your life, showtime this 2 days before you plan to serve it, do not shortcut pan-roasting ingredients individually, and use homemade beef stock!

Beef Bourguignon

One of my fondest memories of travels in Burgundy was discovering family-run bistros in pocket-size villages that served traditional French fare and then incredible, you'd swear you were in a hidden Michelin star restaurant.

And being correct in the region from which Beef Bourguignon hails, it was difficult to resist ordering this iconic dish time and fourth dimension again. Every chophouse had their secret recipe, and no two were exactly the aforementioned.

Except, mayhap, the quality that each of them were to me, the most incredible Beefiness Burgundy I've always had in my life!.

I simply need to add one more than to that listing though: This Beef Bourguignon recipe you're reading. It was created with the aid of a classically trained French chef from Burgundy residing right here in Sydney, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre of Baptiste & Wilson. For a dish this iconic, I refused to just settle for whatever old recipe.

This Beef Bourguignon is hands-down better than any I've made in my life – including Julia Child's recipe.

What goes in Beef Bourguignon

In that location are two primary components to making Beef Bourguignon:

1. Red wine-marinated beefiness; and

2. Slow cooked stew

i. Red wine marinade for beefiness

Here's what you need for the red wine-marinated beef:

• Chuck beefiness – Not all beef is created equal, even when deadening-cooked into autumn-apart submission! Look for adept quality chuck beef, ribboned with fat for the juiciest result.

  Besides, exist sure to either buy BIG pre-cut pieces – every bit in 4-five cm / 2" cubes – or a ane single slice which you slice upwards yourself. If you buy pre-cut pieces that are too small, they volition melt faster than the time it takes for the sauce to develop enough flavor;

• Pinot noir – Beef Bourguignon is likewise known every bit Beef Burgundy, and thus the wine chosen for is a Pinot Noir – the most famous variety of wine produced in the Burgundy region of France.

  Using a lighter mode wine might sound unexpected for a hearty stew, but the more than delicate flavour compared to bolder wines like Shiraz makes it platonic for using equally a marinade and then the ruby-red vino flavour doesn't overwhelm the natural beef season.

  We're using a whole bottle here. Sorry folks, y'all'll need another bottle for drinking!

• Thyme and bay leaves – Classic herb aromatics;

• Carrot – But your everyday standard carrots volition do fine;

• Pearl onions – These small onions are the traditional onions used in Beefiness Bourguignon simply are annoyingly difficult to find here in Commonwealth of australia. I use what's sold as "pickling onions" which are well-nigh the same but slightly larger, and so I skin an extra layer or ii off the surface to make them pearl onion size (~iii cm / 1.ii″ diameter).

  Alternative: Just use slices of a normal onion. The cease result tastes the same, I promise!

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ii. The stew

And hither's what goes into the stew:

• Beef stock – The single biggest variable on which a stew hinges, differentiating a good home-cooked stew and a quality, why-does-this-eatery-stew-taste-so-damned-good result.

  Homemade beef stock trumps store-bought. But if you're going down the shop-bought path, try to opt for a practiced quality stock from the butcher rather than the inexpensive mass-produced stuff. The difference I promise is remarkable.

  Having said that though, I would never say that this is not worth making with basic supermarket beefiness stock. It is, oh-so-very worth making!

• Salary – Become slab bacon from your butcher if y'all can, and so y'all tin cut it yourself into big chunky lardons (batons). A proper bite of meaty bacon lardons is part of the awesomeness that is Beef Bourguignon.

  If you lot tin't find slab bacon, try speck (which in Commonwealth of australia seems to usually smoked pork belly chunks). Declining that, normal bacon slices works just fine too;

• Mushrooms – Just your everyday normal mushrooms. Cut big ones into quarters, medium ones in half;

• Garlic – Flavouring (rare to encounter a savoury dish around here without it!);

• Love apple paste – For a affect of tang, to help thicken the sauce, for flavour and for colour; and

• Flour – For thickening the sauce.

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How to make Beef Bourguignon

For the accented all-time results, showtime this 2 days before you programme to serve it to allow for:

• Overnight marinating of the beef; and

• Leaving the finished stew overnight to let the flavours develop even further.

Part 1: Beef marinade

1. Marinate beef for 24 hours in red wine with the onion, carrot, thyme and bay leaves. This tenderises and infuses the beef with beautiful flavour. I've tried it with and without marinating, and marinating is mode better. It'due south worth it!

2. Strain and reserve the red wine – we're going to reduce it to use as the stew braising liquid;

3. Reduce vino – Pour red wine into a saucepan;

4. Reduce – Simmer until reduced by half, about seven minutes on medium high. Skim any scum off the surface using a ladle;

5. Pat beef dry – Separate the beef from the carrots and onion, then pat dry out. Why? Considering moisture beefiness won't brownish. Browning is key for season!

6. Season beefiness with salt and pepper. Ugh, please don't skip this step. I once did, and fifty-fifty though I was salting the sauce furiously at the end, it simply wasn't the aforementioned!

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Office 2: Making the stew

Information technology's well worth taking the time to brown each of the ingredients individually earlier deadening cooking in the braising liquid. The browning adds a depth of flavour you merely can't achieve past dumping everything in at the same time!

1. Brown beefiness aggressively all over, because color = flavor! A very heavy pot like a cast iron pot / Dutch oven works best for this job.

   Be certain to apply enough oil then the beef browns rather than burns. Work in batches and don't crowd the pot otherwise the beef will just braise instead of brown.

   Once browned, remove into a basin;

2. Bacon – Cook the bacon adjacent, to release all that tasty bacon fatty which nosotros and then use to brown the subsequent ingredients;

3. Onion side by side – Just cook until yous get some nice golden patches, it's impossible to arrive aureate all over due to the shape. Put these in a dissever bowl because these get added back into the stew partway though the slow cooking phase;

4. Mushrooms – Cook the mushrooms until golden, then add them into the same bowl every bit the onions;

5. Carrots last – And finally, pan-roast the carrots until you lot become some lovely color on them. We add some butter here, because you'll notice that the mushrooms soak up all the remaining salary fat, but we need some fat to make the roux with the flour in the adjacent step;

6. Tomato paste and flour – Add the love apple paste and melt to take the raw edge off. And then add flour and melt for a minute;

7. Add liquid – Slowly add the beef stock while stirring and then the flour dissolves hands, no lumps! Then stir the reduced cerise wine in;

8. Add beef, bacon, thyme and bay leaves, then requite it a good stir and bring to a simmer. Now, it's ready to slow-cook into fall-apart magnificence!

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Function three. Dull-cooking

This is all virtually time – and not forgetting to add the onion and mushrooms partway through!

1. Oven 1 hr – Cover pot then place in the oven for i hour at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). At this temperature, the stew is simmering very, very gently in the oven, like it would on a depression stove. I find the oven is easier than stove because you don't accept to worry nearly the base communicable – no need to stir;

2. Add onion and mushroom then give it a gentle stir;

3. Return to the oven for another 1½ hours, until the beef is "fall apart tender" – like THIS:

4. Suit thickness and table salt – At this stage, if the sauce hasn't reduced enough (ie. too thin) or the sauce is too thick (which can happen if yous didn't use a heavy-based pot), you tin adjust information technology using the stove.

   If it'due south too thin, just simmer gently on low heat. Information technology won't take long to reduce and thicken. If the sauce is also thick, add together a splash of water then simmer gently to bring information technology together once again.

   Also, don't forget to check if there'south enough salt in the sauce! Sense of taste and adjust as necessary. 🙂

Highly recommended: Leave overnight before serving

As with all stews, Beefiness Bourguignon benefits greatly if y'all tin leave it overnight which lets the flavours develop farther and meld together even improve.

Don't get me wrong, information technology is sensational served on the day information technology'south made. But it's fifty-fifty better the next day!

What to serve with Beef Bourguignon

I suppose one could serve this over a short pasta, polenta, or a grain. But for me, I would never contemplate annihilation other than buttery Mashed Potatoes!

And while I commonly offer Paris Brew as an fifty-fifty more than luxe culling, I really think information technology'southward too rich for Beef Burgundy.

Consummate your Burgundy feel with a fresh French Bistro Salad on the side. Yous'll detect variations of this salad served all over France, for a clean and palate-cleansing side intended to serve alongside hearty mains like this.

Bask! – Nagi 10

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Watch how to make it

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Servings 5

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Recipe video higher up. Considered by many to be the mother of all stews, Beefiness Bourguignon is a French dish made with beefiness, bacon lardons, carrots, onions and mushrooms dull-cooked in a rich red vino sauce.

For the almost magnificent stew of your life, kickoff this 2 days earlier you plan to serve information technology, practise not shortcut pan roasting ingredients individually, and use bootleg beef stock if you can!

Beefiness marinade:

• ▢ 800g/ 1.6 lb chuck beef , cutting in 4-5 cm / two" cubes (Note i)
• ▢ ii big carrots (~300g/10oz), cut on an angle into 4-5 cm / 2" pieces
• ▢ xvi pearl onions or pocket-size, round pickling onions (Annotation two)
• ▢ 1 bay leafage , fresh (sub: dried)
• ▢ 3 sprigs thyme
• ▢ 750ml/ 25 oz pinot noir or other red wine (Annotation 3)

Browning beef:

• ▢ 3 tbsp oil , olive, canola or vegetable
• ▢ three/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/ii tsp pepper

Stew:

• ▢ 200g/ 7oz mushrooms , halved (quarters if large)
• ▢ 150g/ 5oz salary piece , cutting into 1cm / 1/2" thick batons (Note 4)
• ▢ 50g/3 tbsp unsalted butter
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves , minced
• ▢ 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ▢ 6 tbsp flour , evidently/all purpose
• ▢ 3 cups beef stock (low sodium) , preferably bootleg; otherwise the best you tin afford (Note 5)
• ▢ i/4 tsp salt
• ▢ ii tbsp chopped parsley , for garnish

Marinate beef:

• Marinate beef: Place the Beef Marinade ingredients in a big, non-reactive ceramic dish or ziplock purse. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator (minimum 12 hours, maximum 24 hours).

• Strain liquid into a bowl, reserve marinade. Separate the beefiness, carrots and onion.

• Reduce wine: Pour red wine into a saucepan and bring to a eddy over medium high heat. Simmer vigorously, skimming off any impurities that rise to the surface, until reduced past half. Set aside.

Dark-brown beef and vegetables:

• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).

• Dry beef: Line a tray with paper towels, spread beef out, and then pat dry out with paper towels.

• Flavour beefiness: Sprinkle beef with 3/4 tsp salt and one/2 tsp black pepper.

• Brown beef: Oestrus 2 tbsp oil in a large, heavy-based, oven-proof pot over high estrus. Add together 1/3 beefiness and brown aggressively all over. Remove into bowl, so repeat with remaining beef, calculation more oil if needed.

• Fry bacon: Add bacon and melt for three minutes until golden. Add to bowl with beefiness.

• Sauté mushrooms: Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, or until golden. Remove into a new basin.

• Sauté onion: Add a chip of extra oil if needed, so cook onions for 5 minutes or until there are nice golden patches. Add together to bowl with mushrooms.

• Sauté carrot: Add butter into pot. Once melted, add carrot and cook for iii – 4 minutes until there are golden patches. Add garlic and cook for a further one minute.

• Tomato paste: Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.

• Flour: Add together flour and melt for 2 minutes.

• Add together vino and stock: While stirring, slowly pour in beef stock – this helps the flour dissolve lump-free into the stock. Then add vino and mix until flour mixture is dissolved and by and large lump-free (Note 6).

• Add beef into pot: Add beef, bacon, thyme, bay leafage, 1/iv tsp salt and pepper into the pot, then stir well.

Tedious-melt:

• Oven 1 hour: Bring to a simmer, then embrace and transfer to oven for 1 hour. (Note 7)

• Mushrooms and onion: Remove from oven, stir in mushrooms and onion.

• Oven 1½ hours: Comprehend with lid and render to oven for 1½ hours, or until beef is "fall-autonomously tender".

• Conform common salt: Remove from oven, taste sauce and add common salt if needed. (Note viii – important!)

• Get out overnight (recommended): If time permits, exit the stew overnight before serving considering as with all stews, it gets better with time! Reheat gently on a low stove.

• Serve over mashed potato – Essential for mopping upwards every driblet of that amazing sauce!

Scaling recipe up – volition work perfectly, merely be certain to brown the meat and vegetable in batches and so you get some nice color on them. If you oversupply the pan likewise much, they will just braise and get watery, rather than going golden. Boring cook time will exist the same as long as you lot're using a heavy based pot and bring to simmer first before covering and transferring to oven.

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1. Chuck beef – Look for beefiness that's nicely ribboned with fat, as it volition be juicier and more tender. Don't buy pre-cut small pieces, they will cook too apace earlier the season in the sauce develops. It's better to buy a large piece and cut your own to size.

2. Pearl onions are very pocket-sized onions and are irritatingly difficult to find in Australia. The closest are pickling onions which are slightly bigger, so only pare an extra layer or ii off to make them the right size – around ii.5cm/one″ in diameter. Soak them for 10/15min in cold water, it will soften the pare and will brand them easier to skin (use a small knife to assist).

You lot tin besides just utilise 2 dark-brown or yellow onions, halved then cut into 1cm / ii/5" slices.

3. Pinot Noir is the traditional wine used in Beef Bourguignon. It'southward the red wine that the Burgundy region of French republic is most famous for, reflecting the origins of this dish which is also known equally "Beef Burgundy".

There's no demand to splurge on expensive vino here. But comb through the disbelieve bins at your local liquor shop. The bottle I used an end-of-bin bottle steeply discounted to $7 (I stocked up!).

iv. Salary Lardons – Biting into a thick piece of bacon is all role of the Beefiness Bourguignon experience! If you can't find a slab of salary to cutting yourself, try speck which is similar (and like fatty % too which is cardinal!).

Otherwise, only use streaky bacon cutting into strips. Bacon is key for sauce seasoning, then don't skip it!

5. Beefiness stock quality is the key variable here that will set apart a good homemade Beefiness Bourguignon from an exceptional eating house-quality one. Homemade beefiness stock trumps any store bought. Good quality store-bought from butchers etc. are far improve than mass-produced (like Campbell's here in Australia).

Do not use powdered beef stock. It's frankly junior to even the package liquid stock and has no place hither amongst all this effort, I'm afraid!

6. Flour lumps –  Don't fret if yous have some lumps! They will dissolve during the slow cooking time 🙂

vii. Cook method – Oven is best considering it's entirely hands off, no need to stir to ensure base doesn't grab. But it tin can also be washed on a depression stove, lid on, stirring every now and and so (take extra intendance towards the end and then the meat doesn't interruption apart).

Slow cooker: This can work but y'all'll need to reduce on the stove at the end to thicken sauce. Tedious-melt for iv hours on low, add together mushrooms and onion, so slow cook a farther 4 hours. Transfer to pot then simmer (no hat) for 15 – 20 minutes until sauce reduces. I really think information technology's only easier to use the oven!

8.Salt quantity required varies drastically depending on saltiness of bacon, bootleg vs store bought stock (homemade is unsalted), so ever do this at the end andtrust your tastebuds.

With bootleg beef stock, I add another 3/4 tsp common salt. With shop bought, it's unlikely y'all'll need more table salt.

9. Storage – Stew volition continue for 5 days in the fridge, and freezes bang-up!

10. Recipe source: Developed with the assistance of a classically trained French chef from Burgundy, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre of Baptise & Wilson. For a dish this iconic, I refused to just settle for any sometime recipe! Better than the Julia Child recipe I'd been using for years. 🙂

eleven. Nutrition per serving, bold 5 servings.

Calories: 745 cal (37%) Carbohydrates: 25 m (8%) Poly peptide: 47 g (94%) Fat: 40 thousand (62%) Saturated Fat: 17 g (106%) Trans Fat: 1 g Cholesterol: 165 mg (55%) Sodium: 1822 mg (79%) Potassium: 1206 mg (34%) Cobweb: iii g (xiii%) Saccharide: 7 g (eight%) Vitamin A: 4476 IU (xc%) Vitamin C: 12 mg (xv%) Calcium: 69 mg (7%) Atomic number 26: iv mg (22%)

Keywords: Beef Bourguignon, Beefiness burgundy, bœuf bourguignon, French beef stew

Life of Dozer

Where he's been positioned while I've been bashing out this recipe. Observe how he sprawls across two seats – and likewise find how I thoughtfully pushed them together for him. #sucker

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Source: https://www.recipetineats.com/beef-bourguignon-beef-burgundy/

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