Photo of Beef Bourguignon by Mario
Time for another classic, this time a French one – Beef Bourguignon.
From the very first moment of browning the meat to taking out of the oven, it’s like a diamond taking shape – a beef stew at it’s best!
Now, you may think that Bourguignon, as a classic French dish, has a long history in French Cuisine, however it was documented for the first time in 19th century, so relatively recent. Quite a ‘young’ recipe, given the fact that nowadays it is considered a standard of French cuisine. Another interesting thing is that the name Bourguignon comes from the use of wine, in this case a Burgundy red, rather than from the fact that dish itself was popularized in Bordeaux region of France.
But enough of the facts for now, let’s start shaping this diamond of a beef stew!
To keep this recipe gluten free, make sure to use a gluten free wholegrain mustard (just check the ingredients on the back of the label) and gluten free flour for thickening (if desired).
Beef Bourguignon
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe by Bill
INGREDIENTS
- 400 g beef, cut into half inch chunks
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 100 g red onion, cut in half and sliced
- 100 g mushrooms, washed and sliced
- 100 g carrot, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
- 100 g celeriac, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
- 150 ml red wine
- 500 ml meat stock
- 1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
- 1 heaped tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 2 bay leaves
- Sea Salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put a large pan on a high heat. When hot, add vegetable oil and drop in the meat, cook for 4 – 5 minutes until nicely browned.
- Add garlic, red onion, mushrooms, carrot, celeriac and cook for a couple minutes, just to soften them up.
- Pour in the red wine, bring to the boil and cook off for a couple of minutes (see notes).
- Add stock, tomato puree, wholegrain mustard and bay leaf, give it a stir and bring to the boil. Season lightly with salt and pepper (see notes).
- Pour the sauce into a casserole dish, cover with lid or kitchen foil, then pop in the pre-heated oven, 180 degrees Celsius, for about an hour.
- Take the Bourguignon out of the oven, remove the lid and check the seasoning.
- If the sauce if too loose for your liking and for serving options, please check the notes for tips and advice.
NOTES
- When adding alcohol to this dish (as well as many others), it’s important to cook it off – this means to boil the sauce/liquid for at least a at least a couple of minutes (depending on the quantity of added alcohol). In this process you loose alcohol by evaporation, but you keep all the flavour of the wine.
- Go easy on the seasoning before putting the Bourguignon in the oven – as the sauce cooks and liquid reduces, the flavour intensifies. Remember, you can always add more seasoning, but you can’t take it out.
- If the sauce if too loose for your liking, follow these instructions: whisk 1 level tbsp of flour with 2 tbsp of cold water till smooth, then pour it back into the casserole dish, give it a stir and bring to the boil on the stove (if it’s easier for you, you can pour the contents into a pan). If you prefer it even thicker, repeat the instructions.
- This Beef Bourguignon can be served with crusty bread, focaccia, mash potato or even rice or pasta – the choice is yours. If you go for pasta, my suggestion is a penne, shells and such.
