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Dave Wirrick’s Birthday Bourguignon

Description

Dad turned 70 during Covid lockdown, so we had friends over to celebrate in the garage 6 ft apart in early February.

I made this beef bourguignon (adapted from Julia Child) to warm us all up and served it over mashed potatoes. Dad licked his bowl clean.

Ingredients

  • One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 3 cups full-bodied red wine (Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
  • 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups beef stock
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 cloves mashed garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • A crumbled bay leaf
  • 18 to 24 white onions, small
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth or with twine)
  • 1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered (I used cremini)

Directions

  1. Remove bacon rind and cut into sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long. Simmer for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.
  2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  3. Sauté bacon in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove bacon to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
  4. Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat left over bacon fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Remove beef and add to reserved bacon.
  5. In the same dutch oven that cooked bacon and beef, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out any excess fat.
  6. Return the beef and bacon to the dutch oven and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
  7. Sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set dutch oven uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
  8. Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust). Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
  9. Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
  10. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
  11. Cover dutch oven and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
  12. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
  13. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
  14. Add onions and sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins.
  15. Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.
  16. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated.
  17. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
  18. Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat until it is melted and translucent.
  19. Add mushrooms. Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.
  20. When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.
  21. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
  22. Skim fat off sauce in saucepan.
  23. Simmer sauce for 1-2 minutes, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock.
  24. Taste carefully for seasoning.
  25. Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.
  26. Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

Notes

It’s an all-day affair (I start prepping ingredients day before you are serving) but 100% worth it for special occasions and if you have a meat and potatoes guy in your family.

Serving Size 6-8 people

Source

Jennifer Wirrick