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Hello Foodies,
This week we are tackling a classic of French cooking. one of the best winter dish ever made, the “Beef bourguignon”. this beautiful dish is full of flavours that will take you right back to Burgundy, one of the most beautiful region of France. We could talk a lot about all the wines in this region around Lyon, French capital of food. The Gastronomic paradise in France is Burgundy.
Beef Bourguignon undoubtedly started life as a humble, peasant dish used to cook tougher pieces of beef. Older French recipes mention larding the beef and adding a calves’ foot to the pot to provide a certain texture and richness to the sauce. Larding, or inserting strips of pork fat into cubes of beef to make the meat tender and less dry.
This Original recipe is from Paul Bocuse but i had to add my personal touch and flair to make this dish a unique experience for you. A beef bourguignon is best made 1 to 4 days in advanced and reheated. You can either served it with Paris mash potatoes, green beans, broccoli or even fresh tagliatelle.
Let’s go to the kitchen and let me take you to France.
Ingredients
- Bouquet Garni
Instructions
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First thing first.... Gather all your ingredients on the bench and make sure you have it all, specially the wine. You will need at list a fry pan for this recipe, a casserole dish or if you want do it in a slow cooker. Cut your meat into large cubes about 4 to 5 cm 5x5 cm.
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heat up a bit of olive oil and butter. Once very hot, seared your meat in the pan. Here we want the meat to get brown fast. This caramelised the outside of the meat and keep the juices in. It is a very important part of the cooking process. Hot oil fat and only few pieces in the pan. do not over crowed it. wait 30 sec, turn it over, wait 30 more seconds and tranfert the meat to your casserole/stew dish.
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As i am browning my meat, i am actually peeling my onions and shallots. Like this, i am not wasting any time.
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Slice or dice the onions, it is up to you.
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Do the same for the shallots (echallotes).
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Diced the pancetta (Smoked ham/bacon).
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By now all your meat should have been coloured and transfer to the casserole dish. Using the same pan and if not burn, add a little more oil or butter and sweat your onions and shallots for 2 minutes. Once done, transfert them to the casserole dish.
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Fry up the pancetta/bacon for 2 minutes and transfer to the dish.
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Your casserole dish should start to build up by now and look a little like this.
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Switch on the heat under the dish and add the flour to the ingredients.
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Give it a good stir and mix the flour to the rest of the ingredients. This will help with our sauce consistency later. (if you are gluten free or intolerent, use cornflour instead).
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Now add, your brandy.
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Add your red wine.
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Add the tomato paste.( i diluted mine with a bit of water)
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Add the beef stock to just cover the meat. (if needed add either more wine, beef stock, or water)
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Bring your casserole to boiling point. As soon as it reaches boiling point reduce the heat to a simmer. we are goingot keep cooking it like this for another 4 hours. Checking from time to time that it does not burn at the bottow (Stirring every 20 minutes). I also skim the top of the dish every 20 minutes.
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Whilst the dish is heating up, you can prepare your garlic and add it to the dish. Peel it, bruise it, add it
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You can also prepare your bouquet garni (bundle of aromates). I got a video for that too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYodyL9Yqu0
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Then add it to your stew. Whilst this is gently cooking, you can peel and chopped your carrots in batons and slice your mushrooms.
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After 4 hours of cooking and the sauce reducing, your dish should be nearly there. During that time you can cook the mushrooms on high heat and give them a beautifull brown colour. Add them, the carrots and baby pickle onions (optional) tho your beef stew. Cook for a further 30 minutes.
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Lift a little bit of the meat from rich sauce and check the seasoning. Adjst with a little bit of salt and pepper. Taste again, taste the meat to see if it is tender and breaking down easy. By now your dish should be just divine, succulent, tender... oh gosh this dish will take you to France....
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I like to serve mine with Paris mash potatoes, and Broccolini. Chervil or chopped parsley for garnish, Bon Appetit, Do not forget to have a glass of your favorire red with it or a little Chateauneuf du Pape Frenchy
