Michael’s Boeuf A La Bourguignonne
- Details
Turkey dominates the center of the Thanksgiving spread, but it doesn’t have to be the only protein on the table. Boeuf a la Bourguignonne is a French peasant dish from Burgundy that uses beef simmered in wine to create a hearty and pleasing stew. A nice dish for a rainy winter day, this recipe is a favorite addition to Michael’s Thanksgiving table.
Michael’s Boeuf A La Bourguignonne
Ingredients
- 3 lb top round steak, cut into one inch cubes
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons brandy
- 1 bottle red Burgundy wine (pinot noir)
- 1/4 lb slab bacon, cut in 1/4 inch pieces
- 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 4 –6 carrots, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme, parsley, and fennel sprig) or 2 tbs Herbes de Provence, preferably with lavender
- 1 lb small onions (I like using cipollini onions, though pearl onions work just fine)
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 lb button mushrooms
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Liberally season the flour with salt and pepper, then dredge the beef in the flour and brown the cubes in a large pan or skillet with half of the butter and all of the olive oil. Fry them in batches until the cubes are golden brown all over. Move the browned beef to a Dutch Oven or other large, covered, oven safe casserole pan.
- Once all the beef is properly browned, deglaze the pan with brandy, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen the fond. Add the wine and allow to boil fiercely for one minute. Then pour the wine over the beef cubes. You want the wine to just cover the beef. Add a little water if you must to achieve the needed liquid.
- Next, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and quickly fry the bacon, chopped onions, carrots, and garlic until just turning golden brown. Add to the casserole along with the bouquet garni (or Herbes de Provence, if using). Cover and cook in the oven for two hours. Enjoy the smell, but leave it alone.
- After two hours, melt half the remaining butter and fry the small onions until they caramelize a little on each side. Once they take on a nice color, add the vinegar, water, and sugar. Cook down to a glaze, then place the onions on top of the casserole. Drizzle with any remaining glaze, and return to the oven. Cook for another hour.
- At the end of the hour, quickly sauté the mushrooms in the remaining butter. Add to the casserole. Stir. Serve with a good Burgundy wine, and a couple small, boiled potatoes.
Notes
Use a decent wine to cook with, in the $15.00 range or so. The stew tastes better if you don’t cheap out. Buy a $20.00 bottle to drink with dinner. Take care with each step as the quality builds upon itself. Take your time in browning the meat. Don’t crowd the pan, and aim for a nice, golden color, just turning to brown. You may reduce the amount of butter by ½, if you desire. You may omit the brandy, if you don’t have any, or deglaze with Ricard or even rum, if you wish). You may omit the fennel, if you wish. Also, I often use dried Herbes de Provence (with Lavender) instead of the bouquet garni. This makes for a lovely, hearty dinner, or it can be served as part of a multi course meal, as the dish practically cooks itself, leaving you plenty of time to enjoy a plate of appetizers and a salad while the stew cooks.
This recipe brought to you by World Spice Family Favorites. Thanks, Michael!
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Reads as quite a delicious recipe and I cannot wait to sample it during my next family dinner! Just one thing: what is the quantity of olive oil within the first step? It states “…and all of the olive oil.” though it does not appear to be listed in the ingredients. Thank you.
Trent,
Thanks for pointing that out! Looks like the olive oil got missed on transcription. It should call for a quarter of a cup of olive oil, and I’ve updated the recipe accordingly. Let us know how it turns out!
I’m definitely making this recipe as soon as I can get up to the few butcher’s we have left anymore to get a 1/4 lb slab of bacon. And that’s my question on this recipe – on the quarter pound slab, do we slice it and then cook it or just cook the quarter pound slab? I can have the butcher cut it up for me, or I can do it too. Is the bacon slab browned or fried crispy on the outside? Thank you so very much! (Now I wish I would have gathered an extra lavender for the recipe before it froze overnight for free outside.)
I’ve updated the recipe re the bacon. You cut the slab into 1/4 inch pieces to make lardons. Then cook the bacon pieces until they are browned. Crispy would be good, too – they will soften while the dish is braising. (And crispy bacon lardons are yummy. Feel free to do “quality control”.)