If you’re looking for “one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man,” as Mastering the Art of French Cooking put it, you have found it in beef bourguignon. This hearty meal consists of tender beef slow-cooked in red wine and beef stock, with carrots, mushrooms, and onions. It is decadent and rich and will fill your house with tantalizing aromas while it cooks for three hours. Serve beef bourguignon with mashed or boiled potatoes to round out the meal.
On the Ingredients
- Thyme originated in the Levant, where it was first cultivated. The ancient Greeks believed that thyme was a source of courage and bathed with it. The Romans spread it across Europe, burning it for incense and flavoring their cheese and wine. It was common in the Middle Ages to sleep with a sprig of thyme under your pillow to ward off nightmares. It was also custom to gift bunches of thyme to knights or soldiers to give them courage, harkening back to the Greeks. Today, thyme is a popular herb around the world.
- Bay leaves are an excellent herb for flavoring soups and sauces. They are traditionally used in Mediterranean and Brazilian cuisine. Other varieties, such as Indian bay leaf and Californian bay leaf, are similar in flavor and can be substituted for one another. There has been a mistaken belief that bay leaves are poisonous if eaten whole. This myth was probably inspired by other members of the laurel family, which are indeed toxic. However, ingesting bay leaves is perfectly safe, though unpleasant due to their stiff, unyielding texture. Because of this, it is still a good idea to remove them from a dish after cooking.
Beef Bourguignon
4
servings30
minutes3
hours30
minutes4
hoursIf you're looking for "one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man," as Mastering the Art of French Cooking put it, you have found it in beef bourguignon. This hearty meal consists of tender beef slow-cooked in red wine and beef stock, with carrots, mushrooms, and onions. It is decadent and rich and will fill your house with tantalizing aromas while it cooks for three hours. Serve beef bourguignon with mashed or boiled potatoes to round out the meal.
Ingredients
6-8 strips of bacon (cut into 1" pieces)
2 lb beef chuck or other beef roast cut (cut into 2" pieces)
4 tbsp butter
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
4 large carrots (peeled and chopped)
5 large cloves of garlic (minced)
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp all-purpose flour OR gluten-free flour mix
2 cups red wine (preferably Burgundy)
2 cups beef stock
1 tbsp Better than Bouillon beef bouillon
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 lb pearl onions OR small shallots
16 oz mushrooms (we used oyster)
salt
pepper
- Equipment
dutch oven
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Heat your Dutch oven over a medium-high flame. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until brown and the fat is released. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon, leaving the fat in the pan, and set aside.
- Thoroughly salt the beef pieces, then sear in the Dutch oven until each side is browned. You may need to do this in batches. Set the beef aside.
- Decrease the heat to medium and add 2 tbsp butter and the yellow onion and carrots to the pot. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, then add the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the tomato paste has darkened.
- Add the flour and continue to cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the red wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits in the bottom of the pot. Add the broth and bouillon and bring to a simmer.
- Add the bacon and beef back to the pot, as well as the thyme and bay leaves.
- Cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2 1/2 hours.
- Just before the 2 1/2 hours are done, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the pearl onions, skins and all, and cook for 60 seconds. Drain and place the onions in a bowl of cold water. Cut the root ends off and squeeze each onion gently, the skin will pop off. If you're using shallots instead, skip this step and simply peel the skin off raw.
- Melt the remaining butter (2 tbsp) in a clean pan over medium heat and add the mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms until browned. Add the pearl onions or shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Pull the Dutch oven from the oven and add the mushrooms and onions. Stir and replace in the oven. Cook for another 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes covered before serving with mashed or boiled potatoes. Enjoy!
