Bourguignon de Boeuf

Bourguignon de Boeuf

When I was a kid, this is something that my mom would make on special occasions.  Bourguignon de Boeuf, also known as Boeuf Bourguignon or Beef Bourguignon.  This is a big hardy meal and is a typical meal for central to southern parts of France for Sunday, holidays or special gatherings.  It does take some work, but it's well worth it.  As in most French cooking, the prep work is the time consuming part, the cooking tends to be rather simple.  Prepare all the ingredients before you start cooking, you should be able to go from step to step without having to do additional prep work along the way.  This should be done in a heavy Dutch oven, cast iron style pot...like Le Creuset oven.

 

Ingredients:

Beef chuck or better	2 to 3 lbs cut in 1 inch cubes, pat dry with paper towel.
Bacon	2 slices, sliced in 1 inch lengths
Onion	1 medium, medium chopped
Carrots	2 to 3, 1 inch sections
Celery	1 to 2 stocks, ½ inch sections
Mushrooms	4 to 6 medium, sliced
Beef broth/stock	16 oz
Jalapeno	1, sliced into chips
Garlic	2 to 3 cloves, minced
Bordeaux wine (if it’s not good enough to drink, it’s NOT good enough to cook with!)	2 cups
Olive Oil	3 table spoons
Pepper	2 teaspoons
Salt	2 teaspoons
Bouquet Garni
Parsley	2 branches
Laurel (Bay Leaf)	1 or 2 leaf
Thyme	1 1/2 teaspoons
Thickener
Butter	1 table spoon
Flour	1 table spoon

Instructions: 

Step 1:

Over medium high, cook bacon in the pot till done. Add 1 1/2 tablespoon of oil and add one medium chopped onion, 2 sliced carrots, 1 celery, 4-6 med mushrooms.  Cook the vegetables until the onions are transparent.  Remove the vegetables from the pot and set aside.

Step 2:

Add 1 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the pot and increate the heat to high.  Brown meat a few pieces at a time, do not crowed the meat! You want a sear, not a steam of the meat.  As the browns, remove and brown the remaining meat until all have been browned.  Add more oil as needed.  Put all the meat back into the pot, and any juices that have come from the meat.  Add 2 teaspoons of salt and pepper, 2-3 cloves of garlic (stir gently until all meat is coated, remove meat from pot.

Step 3:

Add two cups of Bordeaux wine to pot, use a wooden spoon to scrape and to deglaze the pot.  Allow the wine to boil for about 2 minutes to cook out the alcohol.  Turn the heat down to medium high and reduce to about ½ volume, then return the meat.

Step 4:

Turn the heat down to low and add 4-8 oz of beef broth to cover the meat.  Add vegetables back in and add the bouquet garni (parsley, laurel & thyme).   Add 4-5 small chips of jalapenos, this does not add very much heat, but could be left out if there are some sensitive to spice.  Let the bourguignon cook for 2 to 4 hours over low heat or in a 275’ oven.

Step 5:

Remove meat and vegetables from sauce.  Add beef broth if needed for volume and raise the heat to medium.  Mix in the flour/butter mixture to sauce and let sauce thicken up.  Serve the sauce over meat and vegetables.

Enjoy! 

Serves about 4