A different way to make the traditional Beef Bourguignon

The Beef bourguignon is to the French what the Fårikål (lamb stew) is to the Norwegians and Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding is to the British. As the name indicates it originated from the Burgundy region. It is a beef stew that usually uses the less prestigious meat parts that simmers for hours in red wine together with bacon, carrots, onions, mushrooms, garlic and herbs (thyme, parsley and bay leaves). As often with traditional stews, it was originally seen as a low-quality dish as it was usually made with leftover meats. Today this dish has become a standard in French cooking and you will find it in most traditional french bistros and at the Sunday family lunch table during the autumn and winter season.

This dish is often made by quickly frying and adding all the ingredients in the casserole in the beginning, letting it simmer for hours. But this version of Beef Bourguignon requires a little bit more work. I filter the sauce and add glazed onions on the top after cooking. I like that the sauce gets smoother and it is also more delicate to look at. And the glazed onions really do wonders! I am pretty sure that if you try it once, you will not go back…

THE TIPS TO SUCCEED

1: Patience 🙂 This recipe has a few steps and do take time… But the result is worth it!

2: Watch the heat at the last stage of glazing the onions. They should get light brown but not burned…

Let’s get started

Ingredients

The Stew

• 1,5 kg Beef (Braising beef quality)
• 3 pcs Carottes
• 1 pcs Onion
• 1 bottle Red wine From Burgundy, ideally a Pinot noir
• 2 pcs Garlic cloves
• 300 ml Veal stock
• 2 tbsp Flour
• ½ bunch Parsley
• 3 pcs Thyme stems (dry or fresh)
• 2 pcs Bay leave
• 200 g Bacon
• 150 g Button mushrooms
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Glazed onions

• 200 g Pearl onions
• 50 g Butter
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt

How to do it?

The stew

Remove excedent fat on the meat and cut it in serving sizes (approx 3 cm cubes).

Peel and cut your onions and carrots in big pieces (you will not be eating them).

Peel and cut the garlic in two and remove the germ in the middle

Add the meat, onion, carrots, garlic and red wine into a bowl. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight.

Next day, filter and keep separately the meat, wine and the vegetables. Let the meat filter for at least 15 minutes to make it let go of most of the excess wine.

Fry quickly the meat in a casserole with a bit of olive oil, add the vegetables that was included in the marinade, add salt and pepper and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes.

Drizzle the flour over the meat/vegetable, mix well and cook for another minute.

Add the wine little by little while you stir. Continue with adding the Veal stock.

Add the thyme, Bay leave and the parsley stems (keep the leaves for decoration).

Cover and let it simmer slowly for minimum 2h and 30 min. The meat must to be tender so this may take more time! I let mine simmer for 3h and 30 min in this version.

While the above is cooking, clean and cut the mushrooms in four and the bacon in small pieces.

Fry/colour them separately in a pan with a bit of olive oil. Keep a side.

Once the meat is tender filter the content in the casserole and keep the meat a side. Put the sauce back in the casserole and adjust to get a correct stew texture. If too thin, let it simmer, if too thick add a bit of water.

You can dispose of the cooked herbs and vegetables as all the taste from these are now incorporated in your sauce.

Once your sauce has reached the correct texture, add the meat, bacon, and mushrooms and let it simmer for a few minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper if needed.

Glazed onions

This is the technical part of this recipe, but once you master the glazing technique it is something you can use with lots of other vegetables as well.

Start by peeling the pearl onions and put them in a saute pan if you have one, if not use a high edged frying pan.

Add 150 ml of water, the butter, sugar and salt and cover with the baking paper as illustrated in the photos.

When the water has almost fully evaporated, remove the paper lid and move carefully the onions in the mixture of butter and sugar which should now slowly start to turn light brown. Once the onions has slightly colored remove the pan from the heat.

Check your onions every now and then. If they have become tender and there is still a lot of water to evaporate you might want to cheat a bit… Use a skimmer to remove delicately your onions and let the water/butter/sugar mixture continue to boil until the water has evaporated and you are left with the butter/sugar mixture. Add back the onions and finalize the glazing.

How to server the Beef Bourguignon?

Place a portion of the stew on the plate, add a few glazed onions and sprinkle with parsley leaves. Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes. Enjoy!