A peasant dish that has been elevated to fine dining stature, beef bourguignon, sometimes spelled bœuf bourguignon or bœuf à la bourguignonne, literally translates to beef Burgundy.
Cook’s notes
What, essentially, is beef Burgundy? It’s beef slow cooked in red wine. In the olden days, so I have read, French peasants in the Burgundy region made good use of tougher cuts of meet by stewing them. Ergo, the name for the dish which reflects its origin.
There are so many recipes for beef Burgundy; this is the no-fuss version. Meaning, instead of straining the broth and thickening it with beurre manie (a flour-and-butter paste), I just allowed the stew to simmer until the sauce was considerably reduced and naturally thickened.
What makes a really good beef Burgundy?
The first thing is time. It’s a stew and that means long and slow cooking. You just can’t hurry up the process.
The second thing is the correct ingredients. Good red wine, good bacon, and fresh mushrooms (substituting canned mushrooms is a terrible idea).
Any good red wine will work for this dish and, although I have penchant for semi-sweet wines, I have to admit that dry red wine is best for making beef Burgundy. The result is a hearty stew that is perfect for the colder weather.
The third thing is the correct cooking procedure. Flour the beef and brown until caramelized. That flour that coats the meat will thicken the sauce naturally during stewing.
Beef Burgundy
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram beef brisket (2.2 pounds) cut into two-inch cubes
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoon olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 100 grams belly bacon (3.5 oz) diced
- 1 onion sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 1 can stewed tomatoes (400 grams / 14 oz) with the liquid
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 to 3 cups bone broth
- 18 to 24 pearl onions
- 16 to 20 button mushrooms halved, if large
- 4 tablespoons butter
- fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Rub the beef cubes with one tablespoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper.
- Sprinkle in the flour and toss to coat all pieces.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan.
- Brown the beef in batches. As each batch browns, scoop out, transfer to a bowl and keep warm. Proceed with the next batch until all the beef cubes are nicely browned.
- In a thick-bottomed pot, cook the bacon until fat has been rendered.
- Add the sliced onion and garlic. Cook until the onion slices start to soften.
- Add the browned beef to the pot. Pour in the wine. Boil gently for about ten minutes.
- Add the stewed tomatoes, a cup of broth, the thyme and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for two hours or until the beef is tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pan. If the liquid dries out before the beef is done, add more broth, half a cup at a time. Taste the sauce occasionally and add more salt and pepper, as needed.
- When the beef is almost done, prepare the pearl onions by peeling them and cutting off the root ends.
- Heat a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and cook, shaking often, until most of the mushroom water that had been released has evaporated. Add the butter and the pearl onions. Cook for about three minutes.
- Pour the mushrooms and onions, with the butter, into the pot of beef. Stir. Continue cooking over medium heat, uncovered, for another 15 minutes or so, or until the sauce has reached the thickness that you prefer.
- Fish out the bay leaves and pour the stew into a serving bowl.
- Sprinkle the beef Burgundy with parsley and serve. Pair with rice, crusty bread or cooked noodles.
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