Classic Boeuf Bourguignon recipe
Classic Boeuf Bourguignon recipe
Calories 585kcal
Equipment
- 1 cast iron pot
Ingredients
- Oil or animal fat for frying
- 1 kg British braising beef cut into 3cm pieces (shin or cheek are best) I used a pack of stewing beef.
- 2 tbsp plain flour plus extra to dust
- 250 g bacon lardons
- 150 g button or chestnut mushrooms
- 2 tbsp butter
- 250 g button onions or shallots peeled but left whole (see tip)
- 1 onion chopped
- Optional vegetables carrots, celeriac, parsnips or turnips
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 750 ml bottle good red wine
- Bay leaf fresh parsley and thyme sprig, tied together with string
- Mashed potatoes green beans and chopped fresh parsley to serve
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3½.
- Start with browing the meat in a frying pan on top of the stove. Lightly coat the pieces of beef in flour and dust off. On medium heat, add 2 tbsp of oil or fat into the pan and brown the pieces of beef on all sides. Do this in a single layer in batches. Once browned, transfer to a big bowl.
- Next, fry the bacon lardons on a medium heat until crisp. Transfer to the bowl with the beef.
- Add the chopped onion, carrot and garlic to the cast iron pan and fry gently until soft – about 10 minutes.
- Return the beef, bacon, chopped onion and garlic to the cast iron pan, add the wine and herbs and bring back to the boil. Cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 2½-3 hours until the beef is tender.
- About half an hour before the beef is done cooking, start frying the mushrooms and shallots. In a saucepan on a medium heat, fry the mushrooms until golden, then set aside in a separate bowl. Add the butter to the pan, then add the pearl onions/shallots and fry gently until brown (10 -15 minutes).
- Stir in the mushrooms and the onions/shallots, then return to the oven with the lid off for 30 minutes more or until the beef is tender and the sauce is glossy. (If it too dry at this stage, add some beef stock).
- Remove the cast iron pan from the oven, give the stew a stir, then taste and season.
- Remove the herbs as they have served their purpose, then serve with mash and green beans.
Notes
Note: Soaking the whole onions/shallots in freshly boiled water for 5 minutes makes peeling much easier.
You can use streaky bacon instead of lardons
If you want to add more vegetables to your diet, celeriac (add at the beginning), turnip, carrots or parsnips will work well, (add it 30 minutes before the end)
If you only have half a bottle of red wine, you can top it up with a good beef stock.
You can use streaky bacon instead of lardons
If you want to add more vegetables to your diet, celeriac (add at the beginning), turnip, carrots or parsnips will work well, (add it 30 minutes before the end)
If you only have half a bottle of red wine, you can top it up with a good beef stock.