Beef Bourguignon (Photos and Recipe)

This is a reposting of a recipe that died in the photo server crash at Photobucket. It is my version of the special French beef and wine dish known as Beef Bourguignon. My version varies a little from the classic French dish, especially in serving since in this case my dish is served over polenta.

I’ll try to let you know when it varies from classic French cooking.

To make Beef Bourguignon, you'll need:
- 3 pounds - Beef Chuck, or Rump if cooking Classic French, or in my case beef stew meat.
- 1/4 pound bacon, or fat back (Lardons would be used in Classic French Cooking)
- 2-3 Tablespoons Olive oil (Lard would probably be used in Classic French)
- 2-3 Tablespoons AP flour
- 1 Large onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- a couple of carrots and maybe a stick and a half of celery to season the gravy as the beef cooks (discarded before serving)
- 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Black Pepper
- 2 cups beef stock (I used Better than Bullion which is not classic French. They would have used Burgundian Beef Stock, or Fond de Bœuf)
- A Bouquet Garni - 1 sprig rosemary, 4-5 sprigs Parsley, 4-5 sprigs of thyme - all fresh from our herb bed and secured with a piece of twine.
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 2-3 cups good red Wine - In this case, Pinot Noir, by J. Lohr.



A note you have heard from me before – In my cooking, I only use wine that I would drink.




In classic French cooking, carefully cut 2 inch cubes of beef, taken from a well trimmed roast would be used for this dish. However, my experience is that stew meat works just as well.



The beef needs to be dry and is seasoned with pepper and a little salt. Then it is floured with a couple of Tablespoons of AP flour. The amount of flour you use directly impacts the thickness of the gravy that will form as the dish is cooked. More flour will require more beef broth and wine be added to make sufficient gravy for the dish.



The fat used to brown the beef and sauté the onions comes from pork and 2 or 3 Tablespoons of olive oil. The first cooking step is to render the fat from the 1/4 pound of bacon or salt pork. This works best if the pork is added to the hot Dutch oven that will be used for cooking the dish and then adding a half cup of water. As the water cooks away, the fat is rendered from the pork. When the water cooks away and the bacon is crisp, it is removed and set aside.





The flour dusted beef is browned in batches in the Dutch oven. My three pounds of stew meat was browned in three batches so as to not crowd the beef while it is cooking.




The beef is browned lightly - maybe to rare stage of doneness (enough to set and slightly brown the flour) and set aside. It will finish cooking in the oven as the French magic takes place and it becomes Beef Bourguignon



Next the vegetables are prepped, (Carrots, Celery, onions and garlic). The carrots and celery are cleaned and left whole or cut in half if you like. They are for seasoning only and will be removed when the dish is completed, before serving. The Mise en Place is set up.

These are the needed additions - the things that turn the sautéed beef into Bourguignon. The garlic is diced and the Bouquet Garni is assembled by tying 1 sprig fresh rosemary, 4-5 sprigs fresh parsley and 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme together with a piece of cooking twine. The Bay Leaves, Tomato Paste, Wine and Beef Broth or Stock are also made ready so that all will go quickly when the dish if put together.





When all is ready, sauté the onions in the oil used to brown the beef.



You may need to add another Tablespoon of olive oil, and that is fine. The bacon, fat back or lardons that was used to render the pork fat for browning the beef is broken into pieces and added, along with the beef pieces,









the vegetables, bay leaves and bouquet garni are added.



Then the beef stock and wine are added to a level that reaches 1/2 inch over the top of the beef - maybe 2 cups broth and 2 or 3 cups wine.






Finally add the tomato paste and garlic. Stir gently.



The Dutch oven is covered with a lid and placed into a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees F. It is cooked until the beef is fork tender - maybe for two and a half to three hours, depending on the size of the pieces of beef. Bigger pieces of beef are nice, but will take longer to get fork tender.





I like my Beef Bourguignon served over thick grits - or Polenta (not necessarily classic French, but really nice). As the beef finishes in the oven I make thick polenta/grits (cream, butter, water a touch of salt and grits - cooked until very thick at my house). You can call them Polenta or grits if you like.





When the Bourguignon comes out of oven, the carrots, celery, bay leaves and Bouquet Garni are removed and discarded.



The Bourguignon is plated over a serving of Polenta and garnished with a few flakes of parsley, with buttered crusty bread.





It would be a shame to not have a nice glass of red wine with this dish.



You can do a vegetable if you like. Either haricot verts or orange marmalade glazed carrots would be a nice vegetable with this dish.





This is a nice Saturday evening meal. For us, it is also provides excellent leftovers for Sunday lunch after Church.

Thanks for looking at my recipe. God bless you.