Boeuf bourguignon

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1.5 kgbeef chuck, shin or paleron, cut into 5 cm pieces
• 1 bottle(750 ml) young red Burgundy or other Pinot Noir
• 1onion, quartered
• 1carrot, in chunks
• 2garlic cloves, crushed
• 1bouquet garni of thyme, bay and parsley stalks
• 10black peppercorns

Stew

• 150 gsmoked lardons, cut into batons
• 2 tbspbeef dripping or oil
• 2 tbspplain flour
• 2 tbsptomato puree
• 500 mlbeef stock
• salt and pepper

Garniture

• 250 gsmall pickling onions, peeled
• 250 gbutton mushrooms, quartered
• 30 gbutter
• 1 tspsugar
• chopped parsley, to serve

Directions

1. Marinate the beef with the wine, onion, carrot, garlic, bouquet garni and peppercorns in the fridge for 12–24 hours, turning once.
2. Drain in a colander set over a bowl, keeping both wine and vegetables, then pat every piece of beef completely dry. Damp meat will not brown, and browning is the entire flavour base here.
3. Boil the reserved wine in a saucepan for 5 minutes, skimming off the grey scum that rises. Cooking the wine separately strips out the raw, harsh alcohol edge.
4. Render the lardons in a heavy casserole until golden, then lift them out and reserve.
5. Brown the beef in the rendered fat in small batches over high heat, 2–3 minutes a side, until deeply crusted. Crowding the pan steams the meat and costs you the sauce.
6. Return all the beef, dust with the flour and toss over the heat for 3 minutes so it toasts and loses its raw taste.
7. Stir in the tomato puree, then the boiled wine and the marinade vegetables, scraping the base clean. Add stock to barely cover, along with the bouquet garni and the lardons.
8. Bring to a bare simmer, cover, and cook in a 150°C (300°F) oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours, until a fork slides into a piece of beef and twists free with no resistance.
9. Meanwhile glaze the garniture: cook the onions in butter, sugar and a splash of water in a covered pan for 15 minutes until tender and shining, then uncover and brown them. Sear the mushrooms separately in butter over high heat until golden.
10. Lift out the beef, strain the sauce and discard the spent vegetables, then boil the sauce down until it coats the back of a spoon and shines. Return the beef with the onions and mushrooms, warm through 10 minutes and serve with parsley, and boiled potatoes or fresh pasta.

Technique

• The garniture a la bourguignonne, lardons with glazed baby onions and mushrooms, is what makes this a bourguignon rather than a generic red wine stew. Each element is cooked separately and added at the end so it keeps its own character.
• Use a wine you would drink, and choose a light Pinot Noir over something big and tannic; three hours of reduction concentrates every flaw in the bottle.
• Straining and reducing the sauce at the end is what a French kitchen does and a home cook usually skips. It is the difference between a soupy stew and a glossy one.
• It is better on the second day. Cool it overnight, lift off the set fat and reheat gently.

Substitutions

• No Burgundy: any dry medium-bodied red works, though Pinot Noir gives the characteristic perfume. Beaujolais makes a lighter, fruitier version.
• Beef dripping can be replaced with equal parts butter and neutral oil.

Variations

• In its oldest form boeuf a la bourguignonne was a whole braised joint, cooked in wine and sliced at the table rather than cubed.

History

Beef, slow-braised for hours in red Burgundy wine with mushroom, onion and bacon, developed in the Burgundy region of eastern France, a major wine-producing area where using the local wine for cooking was both practical and a natural showcase for the region’s most significant agricultural product. Its long, slow braising technique, tenderizing tougher, cheaper cuts of beef over extended cooking time, reflects a broader French peasant cooking tradition of transforming inexpensive ingredients into a rich, deeply flavoured dish through patient technique rather than costly ingredients. Boeuf bourguignon gained significant international recognition and popularity in the mid-1900s substantially through Julia Child’s cookbooks and television programs, which introduced the dish to a wide American audience unfamiliar with French regional cooking.

Frequently asked questions

What is Boeuf bourguignon?

Boeuf bourguignon is a main from France: beef slow-stewed in Burgundy wine with carrots and onions. Beef, slow-braised for hours in red Burgundy wine with mushroom, onion and bacon, developed in the Burgundy region of eastern France, a major wine-producing area where using the local wine for cooking was both practical and a natural showcase for the region’s most significant agricultural product. Its long, slow braising technique, tenderizing tougher, cheaper cuts of beef over extended cooking time, reflects a broader French peasant cooking tradition of transforming inexpensive ingredients into a rich, deeply flavoured dish through patient technique rather than costly ingredients. Boeuf bourguignon gained significant international recognition and popularity in the mid-1900s substantially through Julia Child’s cookbooks and television programs, which introduced the dish to a wide American audience unfamiliar with French regional cooking.

How long does Boeuf bourguignon take to make?

Boeuf bourguignon takes 40 min of preparation and 3 hr 30 min plus overnight marinade of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Boeuf bourguignon?

Yes, within limits. No Burgundy: any dry medium-bodied red works, though Pinot Noir gives the characteristic perfume. Beaujolais makes a lighter, fruitier version. Beef dripping can be replaced with equal parts butter and neutral oil.

What is the most important thing to get right in Boeuf bourguignon?

Drain in a colander set over a bowl, keeping both wine and vegetables, then pat every piece of beef completely dry. Damp meat will not brown, and browning is the entire flavour base here.