Beef Bourguignon

This classic Beef Bourguignon, also known as beef burgundy, is a tasty combination of fall-apart beef braised in red wine with garlic, onions, carrots, and bacon for a rich and savory comfort food meal. This recipe is amazingly delicious and impressive yet easy enough for even the novice chef. Life is too short to reserve fabulous dishes for holidays and company. 

It is absolutely one of my favorite dishes, and you don’t have to be an artist in the kitchen to make this. My recipe does not have as many steps as Julia Child’s recipe, but I think it tastes just as good, if not better.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

See the complete list of ingredients on the recipe card below

• Bacon: Use thick-cut slab bacon or pork belly.
• Carrots: For aesthetic purposes, peel the carrots. Let that bright orange color show through.
• Beef: My favorite beef cut for this is the chuck roast. It slow cooks really well and has some fat, so the meat does not dry out, which can happen if it is too lean. Other cuts of beef include bone-in short ribs and fatty brisket.  Do not purchase beef stew meat for this recipe.  It is too lean, it will not cook up tender.
• Dry red wine: I use a Pinto Noir, but Merlot, Shiraz, and an unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon are all good choices. Make sure the quality is high enough that you would enjoy a glass.
• Beef broth: Preferably low-sodium or use beef stock.
• Fresh herbs: Bay leaves, thyme, and parsley are my go-to herbs.

How To Make Beef Bourguignon

This is a summary version; for the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.

1. Brown the bacon in a Dutch oven and plate it.
2. Salt and pepper both sides of the chuck roast pieces and dredge them in flour. Brown them on both sides in the bacon grease and plate them.
3. Add onions and carrots to the remaining bacon grease and cook until the onions are softened. Plate the vegetables. Remove excess bacon grease.
4. Melt a little butter in the pot and cook the mushrooms until brown. Plate the mushrooms.
5. Add the wine and deglaze the pot, loosening the brown bits. Add the beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, and browned chuck roast to the liquid. Place the covered Dutch oven in the oven for about an hour.
6. Melt the butter and whisk the flour into it. Slowly stir it into the liquid with the beef over low heat on the stovetop. Continue stirring and cooking until slightly thickened.
7. Add the bacon, onions, carrots, and mushrooms. Place the pot back in the oven and cook for about another hour.

Preparation Tips

• Trim the cartilage and most of the fat from the chuck roast and cut it into 2-inch chunks.
• The Dutch oven will be very hot, especially the lid handle, so be very careful.
• If you can find fresh pearl onions, they make a wonderful substitute for the yellow onion and a beautiful presentation. Blanch the pearl onions in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then pinch the stem end, and the pearl onion will pop out.
• Fish out the bay leaves and the stems from the thyme sprigs.
• This recipe can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated. Remove any fat that solidifies on the top and reheat on the stovetop.

Serving Suggestions

Just as any other stew is almost a complete meal in itself, so is this one. You can serve over rice, homemade mashed potatoes, or wide egg noodles. Or pair it with a crusty baguette with cold butter and a glass of Pinot Noir. Other great wines to serve with this are a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.

More Beef Recipes

 

https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf