Beef Bourguignon

Here in Quebec, when Beef Bourguignon cubes go on special, you should buy it because otherwise it's too expensive. This is not the same as stewing beef, although you could certainly use it as a substitute. It's a better quality beef. So, when I saw it on special this week, I knew I had to make this glorious dish, especially since I have a little time on my hands what with still being on holiday. So I got out two cookbooks, both my Julia Child and Laura Calder to compare recipes. The ingredients were very similar, but Calder's recipe seemed to be broken down more simply, so I went with it. 

Servings: 6-8, although I halved it for my husband and I, it gave us two dinners and two lunches.

Ingredients:

4 pounds Beef Bourguignon or stewing beef
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and halved
2 onions, peeled and halved
4 cloves garlic, just crushed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1  bottle red wine
4 cups beef stock
1 bouquet garni (made from bay leaf,parsley stems, and thyme sprigs) 
       OR
2 dried bay leaves, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, and a few sprigs of fresh parsley. 


Garnish:


1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more if needed
6 to 8 slices bacon, cut into lardons
40 baby onions, peeled
16 ounces mushrooms


Method:


Both recipes called for a casserole, but I personally didn't have a stove top safe one that I was aware of, so I used a big pot. Preheat the oven to 325°. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and brown the beef in small batches in the oil. You really want to get good browning here, but make sure to stir it around right away otherwise your meat will stick About 3 minutes or so.

Deglaze the pot or casserole with the wine and stock. Stick the beef back in along with the carrots and onions and the herbs. Bring this all to a boil and put the pot in the oven, covered, and let simmer for about 2 hours, or until the meet is tender. Stir once in a while. 

For the garnish: In the second hour of cooking, pan fry the bacon, remove them, and in their grease (I did take out a little of the grease), fry the onions, then the mushrooms separately. I, God forbid, forgot to buy the pearl onions... It's too bad, because it is a really nice little touch, but I ended up just coarsely dicing an onion instead.  

Once the meat is done, you take it out with a slotted spoon and put it on a plate. Remove the carrots, onions, and chunks of herbs and spices from the pot. On the stovetop, bring the remaining liquid to a boil, and thicken until you can coat the back of a spoon. Add in the meat and garnish and cook together for about ten minutes. That's it! 

By chance, I realized I served this dish up with two sides that I have previously blogged about, my chickpea orzo salad (but I served it warm) and Greek horta. It sounds like an unusual combination, but the flavours all worked really nicely together. 

Enjoy! Have a great day!

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