Beef Bourguignon
A rich, slow-cooked French beef stew braised in red wine with bacon, mushrooms and pearl onions.
Ingredients
- 200 gm stewing beef (chuck or shin), cut into large chunks
- 2 rashers smoked bacon, chopped
- 1 tbspn olive oil
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tbspn plain flour
- 200 ml red wine (Burgundy or similar)
- 150 ml beef stock
- 1 tbspn tomato purée
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or ½ tspn dried)
- 6 small button mushrooms, halved
- 6 pearl onions or shallots, peeled and left whole
- Knob of butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fresh parsley, chopped, to serve
Method
- 1
Heat the oil in a small casserole or heavy saucepan over a high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper and brown well on all sides. Remove and set aside.
- 2
Add the chopped bacon to the pan and fry for until crisp. Remove and set aside with the beef.
- 3
Lower the heat, add the onion and carrot and cook for until softened.
- 4
Add the garlic and cook for .
- 5
Stir in the flour and cook for , stirring constantly.
- 6
Pour in the red wine and stir well, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- 7
Add the beef stock, tomato purée, bay leaf and thyme. Return the beef and bacon to the pan.
- 8
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook on a low heat for , stirring occasionally.
- 9
Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms in a knob of butter until golden. Add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the stew for the last of cooking.
- 10
Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprig. Check the seasoning and serve scattered with chopped parsley.
Notes
- Serve with mashed potato, crusty bread, or buttered egg noodles.
- A cheap red wine is fine for cooking — it does not need to be expensive Burgundy.
- This can also be cooked in the oven at 160C instead of on the hob.
- Even better the next day — the flavours deepen overnight in the fridge.