Boeuf à la Bourguignone
Recipe by Graham
Boeuf à la Bourguignone (pronounced "berf-a-la-borg-in-yon") simply means "Burgundy style beef". Though 'posh' restaurants advertise it as being 'haute cuisine', it's actually a peasant dish and very much a favourite among those slowly cooked dishes that are traditionally the domain of French housewives rather than of professional chefs.
I've just done a bit of research on the Net and find that all sorts of strange additions like carrots, celery, pig's trotters, calves' feet and worse appear in some recipes. However, the recipe that I'm going to give you here is the one that we use at home and is almost identical to one I just found in the book "La Bonne Cuisine Française" (Good French Cooking) published in 1983 - the definitive reference to French cuisine. (And just to be pedantic, I've even spelled it the French way... Bourguignone instead of Bourguignonne!! ... Must be getting cantankerous in my old age!)
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How to Cook Boeuf à la Bourguignone
- Cut the meat into large cubes of about 1½" (4cm) across. Already, it should be obvious to you that the miserable pea-size cubes of meat used by pubs and cheap restaurants have no place in this recipe! When cooked in very large chunks, due to the slow cooking process, the meat will be amazingly tender and will simply fall apart under your knife. Those apologies for beef that you get in most restaurants are too small to stand a long slow cook, so are either hard as bullets or haven't had time to absorb all the excellent flavours of the wine and stock. (OK - rant over!)
- Melt the butter in a large casserole. Peel the onions and place them (whole) in the butter along with the lardons (chopped bacon). Stir continuously until the bacon and onions are golden all over, remove them from the casserole and put to one side.
- In the same casserole, turn up the heat and add the chunks of meat, turn them so that each side is sealed, then sprinkle with flour and continue to turn until the meat is 'scorched'. If necessary, heat the beef stock, then add it to the casserole.
- Add back the onions and lardons, pour in the wine and add the bouquet garni. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, stir, then cover and leave to cook at a slow simmer for 3 hours. Stir in the button mushrooms (you can slice them if you prefer) and continue to cook gently for a further 30 minutes.
- Remove the bouquet garni and pour the Boeuf à la Bourguignone into a serving dish. The sauce should be firm but not thick. If it needs loosening a little, add a few drops of hot water and stir well. Serve with Creamed Potatoes.
- **If you can't get small "pickling" onions, use shallots instead.
GRAHAM'S HOT TIP:
The menu above will make an excellent Boeuf Bourguignone however, if you want to make it even better, you can marinate the cubes of beef in the red wine for 12 hours before cooking. Just add a couple of roughly chopped carrots, a couple of chopped onions, bouquet garni and ground pepper to the marinade. In this case, when you are ready to cook the meat, remove it from the marinade then filter the wine through a sieve (strainer) (removing the solids) and use it when cooking the meat.
A Nebbiolo grape like Barolo and Barbaresco. wines from Northern Italy. A young Barbaresco goes perfectly with a cold meat platter, while Barolo wines are at their best with richer dishes such as this one.Reviews of Boeuf à la Bourguignone
| May 25 2014 Forced retirement can have a fun and interesting side. I have lots of time to cook labor intensive recipes now. I thought the recipe was delicious and even more than I expected. I enjoyed every minute of the process. I felt excited as I got into this all day adventure. And that's what it was for me, an adventure in real cooking, not just meal preparation. I would make this again, and again. I believe I'd do it even for just myself because I so enjoyed the experience. gina (9 reviews) |
May 13 2014 This was a wonderful recipe. I had a taste in my mind as I was making this recipe and it did not disappoint me. the flavor was exceptional. I have now made this several times and will continue to do so. Thank You so very much. Ida (7 reviews) |
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