Boeuf Bourguignon
Apparently, I am a big fan of beef bourguignon, since I actually have another recipe here for it. This one is quite a bit better, though. The sauce is thicker and more flavorful, and doesn’t rely on canned mushroom soup for flavor. I saw the recipe over at Ezra Pound Cake last week and knew I had to make this yummy winter stew again.
I left out the bacon (intentionally) and the pearl onions (unintentionally). I just never have bacon on hand and really didn’t want to buy it just for this dish. And I am one of those people who doesn’t love bacon flavoring in everything, although I know many people do. I’m sure it adds a lot of flavor to the dish, but I promise, if you leave it out it is totally fine. The pearl onions, on the other hand, were forgotten about until it was already served. Oops! I might throw them in when reheating the leftovers.
That’s fresh baked No-Knead Bread on the plate, along with creamy mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus (two accompaniments I repeated from the first recipe). Yum!
Recipe adapted from Ezra Pound Cake via Ina Garten
Makes 4-6 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 cup Cognac
1 (750 ml.) bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
1 can (2 cups) beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 pound frozen pearl onions
1/2 to 1 pound fresh mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thickly sliced
For Serving:
No-Knead Bread
Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Dry the beef cubes with paper towels, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Transfer the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon, and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.
4. Toss the carrots, onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Return the beef and bacon to the pot with the juices. Add the wine and enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork. (Depending on the size of your beef cubes you could increase the cooking time to 2 hours.)
5. Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork, and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions.
6. In a separate skillet, saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned, and then add to the stew.
7. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.
8. Spoon stew over mashed potatoes and serve with bread and asparagus. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Tags: beef, beef broth, carrots, mushrooms, onions, pearl onions, red wine, stew, thyme