Boeuf Bourguignon

This rich beef stew with bacon, mushrooms, and pearl onions will make you feel differently about foods braised in red wine.

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Boeuf Bourguignon

This rich beef stew with bacon, mushrooms, and pearl onions will make you feel differently about foods braised in red wine.

Ingredients

• 1 bottle medium-body red wine
• 6 cups beef stock
• 3 lbs chuck roast, or other well-marbled cut of beef, (cut into 1.5” cubes)
• 4 Tbsp vegetable oil, (for browning beef)
• 4 Tbsp flour ((all-purpose))
• 2 large white onions, (medium dice)
• 2 carrots, (medium dice)
• 2 stalks celery, (medium dice)
• 8 Tbsp salted butter
• 2 gloves garlic, (minced)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 sprigs thyme, (tied together with butcher string.)
• 6 oz of thick-sliced bacon, (cut width-wise into 1/8” lardons)
• 1 lb mushrooms, (cleaned and quartered)
• 1 lb pearl onions, (peeled, whole)

Instructions 

• Begin by frying your bacon lardons on medium to medium-low heat to render out the bacon fat.
• Remove lardons when they are cooked (but not extra crispy or burned) and set aside.
• Slowly cook the diced white onion, carrot, and celery in the bacon fat and 4 Tbsp salted butter.  Add salt to taste.
• Cook until onions are translucent, about 20 minutes on low heat.
• Add your minced garlic and cook for an additional two minutes.
• Add your tomato paste and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.  Add your red wine and beef stock and bring to a gentle simmer and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
• As the vegetables and red wine are cooking, salt your meat generously and brown the salted beef cubes in a separate pan. 
•  You will likely need to brown your meat in batches to avoid overcrowding your pan during this browning stage.
• Make sure the beef is dry before you put it in the pan with the very hot (nearly smoking) oil.
• Cook them in vegetable oil at a very high heat, and brown the meat on all sides as best you can.
• When the meat is browned, remove from the pan and coat the meat with the 4 Tbsp of flour. Take some of the cooking liquid from your red wine & beef broth mixture and deglaze the beef drippings from the beef saute pan.
• Return the deglazing liquid to the red wine and beef broth mixture.
• Place the meat in a deep casserole baking dish or high-sided roasting pan in the oven at 400F for 3-4 minutes, to continue adding color. The flour will also help thicken your stew later.
• Remove the casserole dish with the beef from the oven and pour in your simmering red wine mixture, and stir to combine.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325F for 2-3 hours, checking for tenderness of beef as the stew cooks.
• The beef is done when a fork easily pierces through the meat.
• As the meat is cooking, slowly and gently saute the pearl onions on low heat in 2 Tbsp butter, until they are tender and easy to cut through. Reserve and set aside.
• Saute your quartered mushrooms in 2 Tbsp butter until they have released their liquid and are tender. Reserve and set aside.
• When your beef is cooked through and your pearl onions and mushrooms are finished, you are ready to serve!
• Serve the stew in bowls with the cooked mushrooms, cooked pearl onions, and bacon lardons.

Notes

When choosing your beef, avoid lean cuts and pick ones with more fat and marbling. Leaner cuts of beef tend to dry out during the stewing process.
Take your time with the beef as it stews. The meat is done cooking when the cubes of beef are effortlessly pierced by a fork. You want to cook this dish the entire time at slightly below a gentle simmer, around 165-170F.
If you want your stewing liquid to thicken up, you can add a simple cornstarch slurry made up of 4 Tbsp water and 3 Tbsp corn starch. Mix the cornstarch and water together with a fork, and then whisk the contents into your stew, stirring to combine thoroughly.
Try serving this stew in a bowl, on top of a mound of mashed potatoes.