Boeuf Bourguignon
Tom Ashworth Demo- Makes
- 5 servings
- Active
- 47 min
- Total
- 15 h 25 min
You’ll Need Large heavy oven-proof pot with a lid or Dutch oven or cast iron casserole, Saucepan, Colander, Large non-reactive dish or zip-lock bag
Method
Wine Marinade
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Put , , , , and in a large non-reactive dish or a zip-lock bag, making sure the meat is covered. Refrigerate overnight.
4 °CLeave it for up to 24 hours, no longer. -
Tip everything into a colander set over a bowl to catch the wine. Pick out the beef, the carrots and the onions into three separate bowls; keep the bay leaf and thyme.
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Bring the wine to the boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and let it bubble hard, skimming off the grey scum that rises, until it has reduced by half. Set aside.
about half the original volume leftno more scum rising to the top
Braise
-
Heat the oven to 180 °C (180 °C fan).
180 °C -
Spread the marinated beef on a tray lined with paper towels and pat it thoroughly dry, then sprinkle with and .
the surface looks matte, not wet -
Heat in the pot over high heat. Brown a third of the beef hard on every side, lift it into a bowl and repeat with the rest, adding a little more oil if the pot looks dry.
a deep brown crust on all sidesthe pan sizzles loudly the whole time; if it goes quiet the batch is too big -
Add to the pot and fry for , until golden, then add it to the beef.
fat rendered and the edges golden -
Fry in the bacon fat for , until golden, then scoop them into a new bowl.
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Add a splash of if needed and fry the marinated onions for , until they have golden patches. Add them to the mushrooms.
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Melt in the pot, add the marinated carrots and cook for , until patched with gold. Add and cook more.
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Stir in and cook for , then sprinkle over and cook, stirring, for another .
the paste darkens to brick redno dry flour left -
Pour in slowly while stirring, so the flour dissolves without lumps, then add the reduced wine and stir until smooth.
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Return the beef and bacon with any juices, add the thyme and bay leaf from the marinade, and a grind of pepper, and stir well.
-
Bring to a simmer on the stove, cover and transfer to the oven for .
180 °C -
Take the pot out and stir in the browned mushrooms and onions.
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Cover and return to the oven for , until the beef is falling-apart tender.
180 °Ca piece of beef breaks apart when pressed with a spoonthe sauce coats the back of a spoon -
Taste the sauce and add salt only if it needs it. Fish out the thyme stalks and bay leaf.
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Ideally cool, refrigerate overnight and reheat gently on a low flame. Serve over mashed potato, scattered with .
Refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days; it improves.
From Tom Ashworth
The beef spends a full night in the wine with the carrots, onions and herbs, and the marinade is boiled down by half before it goes back in, so the sauce tastes of Burgundy rather than of raw wine. Every element is browned on its own, hard, before the long oven braise. It is better still the next day.
Notes
- The beef: buy one big piece of chuck with plenty of marbling and cut it yourself; small pre-cut stewing pieces cook through before the sauce has developed.
- Pearl onions: soak them in cold water for 10 to 15 minutes and the skins slip off more easily. Small pickling onions work if you peel off an extra layer; two ordinary onions, halved and cut into 1 cm slices, will also do.
- The wine: Pinot Noir is the grape of Burgundy, but an inexpensive bottle is fine.
- The stock makes the biggest difference: homemade or a good butcher's stock, never powdered.
- Salt: how much you need depends on the bacon and the stock, so taste only at the end. Homemade, unsalted stock may need about another 3/4 teaspoon.
- Lumps of flour in the sauce dissolve during the braise; do not worry about them.
- On the stove: you can braise it on a low flame with the lid on instead of in the oven; stir now and then, gently towards the end.
- Slow cooker: 4 hours on low, add the mushrooms and onions, 4 hours more, then reduce the sauce uncovered on the stove for 15 to 20 minutes.
Storage
Keeps for 5 days in the fridge and freezes well. Reheat gently on a low flame.
Make Ahead
Make it a day ahead: the flavour deepens overnight. Start marinating the beef the day before that.
When to Start
Plan backwards from a time
Filed under Main · Western Europe › France · Beef · Stew · Braising · Boeuf Bourguignon. Tags: #make-ahead, #red wine, #sunday dinner.