Classic Beef Bourguignon In Red wine and Champignon-mushrooms
Best Beef Bourguignon Recipe
French Beef Bourguignon:
Beef bourguignon, also known as boeuf bourguignon or bœuf à la Bourguignonne, is a French beef stew, featuring pieces of beef and veggies like carrots, pearl onions, and mushrooms braised in a red wine sauce until deeply tender. The stew is typically served as a main course—either as a standalone dish or ladled over mashed potatoes or noodles.
There are a few key details to remember when making the Beef Bourguignon. Be sure to brown the meat well in the beginning and use a good-quality red wine that you would happily drink. It doesn’t have to be a pricey bottle, but it should certainly be quaffable.
Beef bourguignon is traditionally started on the stovetop and finished in the oven, but you can also make it in a pressure cooker or slow cooker.
Meat For Beef Bourguignon
Before you start cooking your Beef Bourguignon, you want an appropriate cut of beef. More specifically, you want one that's rich in connective tissue made of collagen.
Meat that has lots of collagen in it starts off tough as heck—it tends to come from the strongest parts of an animal's body—but, as it cooks, it very slowly transforms into meltingly soft and moist gelatin. It's that gelatin that makes the meat still seem moist even after the muscle fibers have inevitably dried out from long cooking. Try stewing a lean, tender cut of beef, like filet mignon, for a couple of hours and you'll end up with scraps of meat that would compete with jerky in toughness and dryness.
Best Wine For Beef Bourguignon
To build the sauce of a Classic French Beef Bourguignon, a dry and fruity red wine is preferred – one ideally produced in Burgundy. My recommendations are:
Pinot Noir
Gamay
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon
The fuller the body of the wine, the deeper and richer the sauce will be.
A splash of French Brandy, such as a Cognac, is also suggested (but not 100% required) to build extra depth of flavor.
The Maillard Reaction
Another crucial step to building a flavorful Beef Bourguignon is the initial browning of the beef cubes. Before adding the liquids (wine/broth) and stewing the meat in the oven, the recipe will ask you to brown the beef chunks in butter and the rendered fat from the bacon strips. This step is perhaps the most tedious one in this recipe.
Beef Bourguignon stew in red wine that is cooked for long hours in the oven, And spreads heat and intoxicating aromas throughout the house.
Tip: a Stew in casserole is tastier to eat after a day in the fridge and crystallization of the flavor. Just prepare the casserole a-day - or two in advance, before serving-cool completely to room temperature and refrigerate until reheated and served.
What to Serve with Beef Bourguignon:
You’ll want to pair this bold, juicy meat dish with a starchy side dish. Here are some classic pairings for beef bourguignon:
Potato Gratin
Creamed Spinach
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients for Beef Bourguignon:
1.5 kg beef meat cut into 4-5 cm cubes
1 bottle of red wine ( one that you like to drink )
1 cup of beef stock or water
200 g diced bacon
2 carrots peeled and sliced sideways into quarters
2 small onions cut into quarters
3 tablespoons flour
5-6 halved shallots
2 leek heads( only the white part) thinly sliced sideways
1/4 cup Brandy or Cognac
30-40 g butter
Bouquet Garni - parsley, 3 stalks of rosemary, warped together in baking wire
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 basket of champignon mushrooms cut into lengthwise
2-3 small potatoes ( 350-400 g) peeled and cut to quartered
Small bunch of thyme.
Preparation
Step 1
Arrange the meat cubes in a large mixing bowl.
Pour in the wine and add garlic, bay leaf and black pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator for the night.
Step 2
Drain the meat and transfer to the strainer until almost full drying. The wine and spices are kept aside.
Step 3
Melt 30 g butter in a large wide pot that fits the backing in the oven
( preferably of iron) Add onion, leeks and shallots and fry while stirring
over medium- low heat for few minutes. remove the vegetables from the Pot, and leave the fat for the next step.
Step 4
Flour the meat cubs in the flour, melt the butter and add a quarter of the amount of meat cubes to the pot and fry for 3-4 minutes, remove to a bowl
and repeat the operation with the rest of the meat. You can add more butter if necessary.
Step 5
Scrap well with a wooden spoon the bottom of the pan, not throw away the fat. Pour in the wine marinade and a glass of beef stock with the spices spices bouquet bring to a gentle boil.
Step 6
Add the meat cubes and the fry vegetables.
Cover the pot with a lid and transfer to a preheated oven at 160 c degrees, Bake for two hours.
This Beef Bourguignon recipe is thick, warm, and utterly delicious, especially when served with a starchy side to soak up the sauce—a classic beef bourguignon recipe with a red wine sauce flavoured with bacon.
Ideally, start the stew ( Beef Bourguignon ) a day ahead of serving (or even two). Not only will the flavor improve with time, but it allows the fat to rise to the top when it cools, which is a nifty way to get rid of any extra unctuous fat. After a night in the fridge, all you need to do is lift off the solidified fat from the surface before you reheat the stew, and you will be left with a silky, rich stock.
This simple Beef Bourguignon will impress your guests and whet your hunger! A classic dish is a tender beef stew cooked in a rich sauce of red wine, beef broth, bacon, and mushrooms. It’s the best of old-fashioned comfort cuisine.
Like its sister meal, Coq Au Vin, or Chicken in Wine, this recipe, from the same region of Burgundy, is a labour of love!