Boeuf bourguignon

Adapted from Guillaume Brahimi

This classic French dish is given a delicious twist and cleaner flavour by dispensing with flour as the thickening agent. Instead, a carrot purée is used which adds richness without masking flavour.

This dish is great for dinner parties because it can be made well in advance and reheats well.

We have yet to encounter an omnivore who didn’t enjoy this dish.

Time

2 hours 45 minutes total: 30 minutes attended, 2 hours 15 minutes unattended

Storage notes

keeps well in the refridgerator for up to 5 days; freezer for 6 weeks

Difficulty

easy

Yield

3200 g (servings 8 )

Ingredients

Weight

Volume

Procedure

Beef oyster blade, bolar blade or shoulder (see notes for other options)

1000 g

2⅕ lb

Cut into 1" / 2.5 cm pieces and divide into 4 batches for frying.

Red wine

1500 g

2 bottles

Set aside 100 g.

Bring to boil in a flame proof casserole.

Boil for 2 minutes and turn off heat.

Oil; peanut or other high smoke-point oil

15 g

1 tbsp

Beef chunks, from A

250 g

1¼ cups

Heat oil in a fry pan over highest heat until just smoking. Turn heat to medium.

Place the meat into the pan in a single layer and cook for 60 seconds without disturbing. Brown on one side only. Remove from pan and set aside.

Repeat this process C until all the meat has been browned. Discard residual oil between batches so it does not become burnt and acrid, but reserve oil from final batch and turn heat to high.

Carrots, halved lengthways, sliced 0.2" / 0.5 cm thick

200 g

2 large

Celery, stalks and small leaves, halved lengthways, sliced 0.2" / 0.5 cm thick

120 g

2 large

Leek, halved lengthways, sliced 0.2" / 0.5 cm thick

90 g

1 large

Onion, skin removed, chopped

90 g

1 medium

Shallots, skin removed, halved

180 g

5 small

Add to pan and sauté for 8 minutes. (Leave the vegetables untouched in the pan for 1 minute before turning; repeat 8 times.)

Transfer to casserole B and add the reserved meat C.

Red wine, reserved from B

100 g

4 oz

Deglaze pan and add to casserole B.

Thyme

10 g

10 sprigs

Speck

300 g

¾ lb

Salt

15 g

2½ tsp

Pepper

4 g

40 dash

Bouquet garni, optional

290 g

Add to casserole.

Cover and cook on lowest heat for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Mushrooms (such as button), small, whole

300 g

3½ cups

Add to casserole and stir to combine.

Remove lid and continue to simmer for a further 40 minutes.

Carrot purée

500 g

5 large

Add to casserole and stir to combine.

Cover and cook for further 15 minutes.

Flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped

20 g

1 cup

Add to casserole and stir to combine.

Flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped

5 g

2 sprigs

Garnish.

Original: 2009. Adapted: 2013.

Notes

The attention you pay to each process will reward you in the final dish. We have given specific instructions about how to brown the meat C and sauté the vegetables (step 8) because these are the details which greatly enhance the final dish.

The carrot puree G can be made by boiling or steaming sliced carrots until soft, about 6 minutes, then pass through a medium sieve or use a stick blender. Our favorite method, however, is to slice them 0.2" / 0.5 cm thick and cook them sous vide (in a single layer) with 5% by weight of butter for 35 minutes @ 85°C / 185°F. Even better, use Best-ever baby food.

Cut the larger mushrooms G into halves.

Browning meat is best done over a medium–high heat with enough oil to completely coat the bottom of the pan. Many people worry that this seems to be too much oil, but keep in mind that only a small amount of meat comes in contact with the oil, and the remaining oil should be discarded after each batch (step 6) because reheating the same oil will scorch or burn it, making it acrid and bitter. Work in small batches as we have described here. We deliberately brown the meat on one side only because it reduces the surface area of meat which comes in contact with oil which reduces the chance of overcooking. See Kenji Lopez-Alt from Serious Eats and his research into browning meat on one side only to improve the succulence in braised dishes.

=== Tough beef, for braise ===

Any muscle of beef which does a lot of work is suitable for this dish. These are some of the ones I have researched:

* Brisket (tried many times, but can turn out slightly too dry if not using the point end)

* Chuck tender; aka mock tender. H.A.M. code #2310. (Local butcher says this piece is only about 700g in size; smaller than required for this recipe. This typical size is confirmed in this useful table from the H.A.M.)

* Oyster blade; H.A.M. code #2303. (Recommended by head chef of French restaurant, Bistro Papillon.) Interestingly, this is obtained by removing the bolar blade from the blade. Must try.

* Ox cheek. H.A.M. code 6060.

* Brisket; specify point end. H.A.M. code 2332. Kenji recommends to sous vide for 24–37 hours at 68°C.

Making ahead

Boil the red wine B.

Prepare the Bouquet garni G.

Prepare the vegetables D.

Prepare the carrot purée.

Food pairings

Silky mash potatoes

Drink pairings

Shiraz

Nutrition

Serving size 400 g; calories 509.7 kcal, kilojoules 2133.9 kJ, protein 15.9 g, carbohydrates 17.8 g, sugar 7.6 g, fat 37.1 g, saturated fat 13.8 g, unsaturated fat 34.6 g, trans fat 0 g, fiber 3.3 g, cholesterol 71.9 mg,

Type braise stew casserole

Author bhsimon

Yield

Servings

Serving size 400 g

Serve	Per serve
Energy (kcal)	509.7
Energy (kJ)	2133.9
Protein (g)	15.9
Fat (g)	37.1
Carbs (g)	17.8
Sugars (g)	7.6
Fiber (g)	3.3
Sodium (mg)	1309.1
Cholesterol (mg)	71.9

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