Beef stock — The single biggest variable on which a stew hinges, differentiating a good home-cooked stew and a quality, why-does-this-restaurant-stew-taste-so-damned-good result. Homemade beef stock trumps store-bought. The difference I promise is remarkable. Having said that though, I would never say that this is not worth making with basic supermarket beef stock.
It is, oh-so-very worth making! Bacon — Get slab bacon from your butcher if you can, so you can cut it yourself into big chunky lardons batons. A proper bite of meaty bacon lardons is part of the awesomeness that is Beef Bourguignon. Failing that, normal bacon slices works just fine too;. Mushrooms — Just your everyday normal mushrooms.
Cut large ones into quarters, medium ones in half;. Tomato paste — For a touch of tang, to help thicken the sauce, for flavour and for colour; and. 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. Reduce — Simmer until reduced by half, about 7 minutes on medium high. Skim any scum off the surface using a ladle;.
Pat beef dry — Separate the beef from the carrots and onion, then pat dry. Browning is key for flavour! Season beef with salt and pepper. Be sure to use enough oil so the beef browns rather than burns. Bacon — Cook the bacon next, to release all that tasty bacon fat which we then use to brown the subsequent ingredients;.
Put these in a separate bowl because these get added back into the stew partway though the slow cooking phase;. Mushrooms — Cook the mushrooms until golden, then add them into the same bowl as the onions;. Carrots last — And finally, pan-roast the carrots until you get some lovely colour on them. Tomato paste and flour — Add the tomato paste and cook to take the raw edge off.
Then add flour and cook for a minute;. Add liquid — Slowly add the beef stock while stirring so the flour dissolves easily, no lumps!
Then stir the reduced red wine in;. Add beef, bacon , thyme and bay leaves , then give it a good stir and bring to a simmer. At this temperature, the stew is simmering very, very gently in the oven, like it would on a low stove. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water then simmer gently to bring it together again. Taste and adjust as necessary. As with all stews, Beef Bourguignon benefits greatly if you can leave it overnight which lets the flavours develop further and meld together even better.
I suppose one could serve this over a short pasta, polenta, or a grain. But for me, I would never contemplate anything other than buttery Mashed Potatoes! Complete your Burgundy experience with a fresh French Bistro Salad on the side.
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Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. Great recipe, it will now be a staple in our home.
I tried this yesterday without marinating and it turned out brilliantly. Job well done Nagi! Hi Nagi. How long on a very low simmer should I cook this. I made this tonight!! Is it normal to have a little oiliness on the surface? Should I do anything to fix it? Hi Carol — its called braising steak in the UK. Just be sure to use the correct size chunks!
Wonderful recipe. I cooked it for a crowd and was asked to cook it again. It works best when cooked ahead of time, in part to cool and congeal excess fat.
Save Recipe. Prep 45 min Total 6 hr 0 min Servings 4. Ready to make? There are some recipes that are worth the wait and Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon is one of them.
When a recipe is this good, there's no need to rush, are we right? Steps 1. Drain and pat dry. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Dry the beef with a few paper towels for better browning. In batches, sear the beef on all sides in the Dutch oven. Set aside with the bacon.
If there's any excess fat, drain it now. Add the bacon and beef back to the pot. Sounds manageable. There is nothing difficult about its preparation, but there are no shortcuts. That much we know. Everything else, it seems, is up for grabs. While, like most stews, this will work with almost all slow-cooking cuts, chefs have their own particular preferences.
A good well-marbled chuck not always the case with supermarket versions does the job, and the more gelatine-rich shin and heel are even better, but my own favourite is the cheek, which seems to offer the best balance between meat and melt. Some testers agree, but my problem with it is that, far from tenderising the meat, it seems oddly to have dried it out slightly. Whether or not the wine is actually to blame, the meat should have plenty of time to absorb its flavour in the oven, rendering such a step pointless.
This certainly works, but trotters are not always easy for everyone to get hold of. One tester suggests that the more commonly available oxtail might do the same job even better is a good one.
You can leave it on the bone if you like, although I prefer to strip it off after cooking so the meat is more evenly distributed. Boeuf bourguignon almost always contains cured pork, too — after all, this is a French recipe, and two meats are better than one.
If you have access to salt pork, you may wish to poach it briefly before use to tame its aggressive salinity, as Olney does. The traditional Burgundian garnish of button mushrooms and miniature onions ought to be non-negotiable, preferably sauteed until golden in the fat from the bacon, as Eastwood, Olney, Hopkinson and Bareham suggest.
In this way, they absorb some of its savoury richness. Much easier. Instead of the tiny pearl onions most recipes recommend, Bourdain uses the ordinary kind, thinly sliced and caramelised. Carrots are also common; the baby variety favoured by Eastwood and Roux make the most pleasing garnish aesthetically, but ordinary sized ones, cut into large chunks, work just as well in the flavour department.
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