Recipe: Beef Bourguignon

I started with the recipe from the Julia Child book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but didn’t end there. I’ll note where Julia and I parted company and the reasons why.

Served over mashed potatoes… Omigod, delicious! 

Beef Bourguignon
Makes nearly one gallon – enough to serve a medium-sized family

Ingredients

• 8 oz. Bacon, cut into 1/4″ strips
  

  Julia recommends a 6-ounce “chunk” of bacon. I think this is because the recipe was written ~50 years ago, and pre-sliced bacon was an oddity

• 1 Tbs Olive Oil
• 3 lbs Beef Stew Meat; chuck roast is a good choice here
• 1 Carrot, diced medium
  

  Julia recommends slicing the carrot. I like the dice

• 1 Onion, diced medium
  

  Again, Julia says “sliced.” Weird

• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 4 Tbs (1/4 cup) Flour
  

  Julia says to only use 1 Tbs of flour, but I want the broth to be thicker – 4x thicker!

• 3 cups dry Red Wine; Cabernet Sauvingon is a good choice.
  Note: 3 cups is 709.76 ml, and a typical bottle of wine is 750 ml – just use a whole bottle. OR, since a typical serving size of wine is 175 ml – you “can” pour yourself a mini-serving of wine… 

  Julia recommends a full-bodied young red wine: Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux-St. Emilion, or Burgundy. I found affordable Beaujolais, but the others didn’t seem worth the cost – I wanted something a little dryer, and I think it works better

• 3 cups Beef Stock
  

  Julia says stock or bouillon – there’s no reason to use bouillon

• 2 Tbs Tomato Paste
• 2 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp Thyme
• 1 Bay Leaf, crumbled
• 1 lb Pearl Onions, browned in stock (see prep note)
• 1 lb Mushrooms, quartered and sauteed in butter (see prep note)

Prep

Note: there are a few specific things that should be done to make this dish a success

1. Bacon: In a small saucepan, add bacon and cover with water by one inch. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Drain.
2. Beef: Cut the chuck roast into medium/large bite-size pieces – about 1 1/2 inch squares look right. Remove the egregious deposits of fat, but don’t go apeshit – the fat is the flavor. Once the beef has been cut, use paper towels to pat the beef dry – this will help the beef brown easier later.
3. Onions: If using frozen pearl onions (easier), allow to thaw. In a shallow saute pan, cook onions in 1 Tbs butter until browned and tender – taking care to NOT ruin the texture of the onions. Add 1/2 cup beef stock, and braise onions until broth is evaporated – about 40 minutes. If the broth evaporates sooner, you can add more and let the onions soak that up too – also, lower the heat on the stove – it’s too hot, dumbass! Set onions aside.
4. Mushrooms: Clean mushrooms (using a paper towel, wipe-off any dirt/moss – don’t “wash” the mushrooms; they are like sponges). Remove stems and quarter the mushrooms. In a shallow saute pan, saute the mushrooms in butter until nicely browned. It’ll be easier to do this in batches – if you cook too many mushrooms at once, the heat will drop and they will not brown. Use ~2 Tbs butter per batch – should take ~2 batches. Set mushrooms aside.

Instructions

1. Over medium-high heat, add olive oil to a large oven-safe saucepan (4 qts minimum), and heat until shimmering. Add blanched bacon and cook until leathery – about 5 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon – leave the grease
2. In batches, cook beef until browned on all sides – about 6 minutes per batch. Remove beef, put with the bacon. Leave the grease and mess in the pan – it’ll be great!
3. Once the beef has been cooked, and the bottom of the pot looks like a goddamn disaster, add the carrots and onions and cook until tender – about 6 minutes
4. Sprinkle-on the flour, and stir until the flour coats all the vegetables. Cook for about 2 minutes – stirring frequently to ensure the flour is cooked
5. Return the beef and bacon to the pot. Add wine, beef stock, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and tomato paste. Bring to a simmer on the stove. Once simmering, cover and put into a 325°F oven
6. Cook for 3 hours – until the beef is tender. Look at it periodically – you want the stew to cook gently – a slow simmer. If it’s boiling, reduce the heat. This is likely to happen because 325 degrees is too hot – I cook this at 250 degrees, but my oven and cookware are champions. Your oven is probably a piece of shit
7. When the bourguignon is done, set a colander over a medium/large saucepan. Drain the bourguignon into the colander – allowing the juice to fall into the saucepan. Set the “solids” aside, and cook/reduce the sauce until it thickens – easily coating the back of a spoon. This should be the consistency of a great gravy. If it’s too thin – keep reducing; if it’s too thick, add a little beef stock to thin it out. While it’s reducing, take this opportunity to remove some fat. Using a wide shallow spoon, dip into the sauce, and scoop-out some fat. The fat will rise to the top of the sauce – it’s easy to scoop it out with the spoon. You don’t need to get 100% – some fat is ok – but get most of it
8. Add the sauce back to the beef mixture – add the prepared onions and mushrooms. Check the seasoning – add salt/pepper as needed
9. At this point, you can allow to cool, transfer to air-tight storage, and pop in the fridge for a few days. I don’t recommend freezing – the texture will get all fucked-up and people will make fun of you
10. If you’re hungry, and want to go for it now, allow stew to simmer-together for a few minutes – the onions and mushrooms need a few minutes to get acquainted with everyone
11. Serve over egg noodles, potatoes, or rice. Boiled potatoes are “traditional,” but my mashed potatoes are friggin’ terrific, and will be used to soak-up all that awesome sauce. Do it! (note: if you make mashed potatoes, which I recommend, make them a little dryer than usual – the bourguignon has a lot of sauce)
12. Throw-on a splash of chopped parsley, and you will be a hero of French cuisine – just like me.

FAQs

• Seems like a lot of work, is it worth it? >> Yes, this is a fucking masterpiece
• Stock/broth – what’s the difference? >> “Stock” means it was cooked with the bones – which will include collagen and other minerals and make for a more substantial broth. “Broth” can be made with bones, but usually isn’t (bones cost money, bitch!). Broth is good, but stock is better
• Why boil/blanch bacon, are you a crazy person? >> Listen, smart guy, bacon is three things: smoke, salt, and fat. Usually, we want all three things to come to the party. For this dish, we mostly want the fat – the smoke and salt are nice, but too much for this. Blanching the bacon will tame the smoky salt, but leave the porky fat – which we’ll use. Who’s crazy now?
• Why cook in the oven? Can I just cook this on the stove? >> The low temperature in the oven will gently cook this stew from all directions. On the stove, even at the lowest temperature, the bottom will cook too fast and affect taste and texture in a bad way. If you want to experiment, make a stove top bourguignon and let me know how it went. My time is more valuable than yours, obviously
• Do I really need to dry the beef? Seems odd. >> Yes. Again, do what I say – no questions.