Here we are with the second to the last Cook N Bake French Series!
Rometti’s passion for turning every meal into a celebratory moment and create everlasting memories simply couldn’t avoid taking into consideration a dish that is synonymous to celebration, Beef Bourguignon. This dish is a harmonic combination of aromatic vegetables, spices, sauce and wine which create a delicious, savory bed for the beef.
Beef Bourguignon is a typical French dish that originated in the eastern Burgundy region (Bourgogne in French). Burgundy is also the kind of wine that is traditionally used to braise the beef (typically cut into small cubes), to which a broth of garlic, onions, and mushrooms is added towards the end of the cooking. Bacon is also another important ingredient that adds flavor to the beef.
Just like many other dishes, Beef Bourguignon was a creation of the lower class, and later it got introduced into restaurants for the upper class. The reason why the simmering of the beef takes so long was in fact because the cuts were not of tender meat (reason why it was not served in the “haute cuisine”) which needed to be moisturized and softened.
Beef Bourguignon is similar to the Italian spezzatino, or the Hungarian goulash. In America Beef Bourguignon was popularized by Julia Child, it can be served immediately after cooking or can be served later. And it’s to honor Julia Child that we decided to use her original version of the recipe as it appears in her “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” recipe book.
You will be unbelievably pleased by the aromatic smell and wine-infused, rich taste of such a homely dish! Whether you decide to cook it on a rainy day, or at Christmas to share it with your beloved ones, you will be blown away by how deliciously all the ingredients work together! As long as you are patient enough to cook the beef perfectly!
Ingredients:
6-ounce chunk of bacon
9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole, 3 inches deep
1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
Slotted spoon
3 pounds lean stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes
1 sliced carrot
1 sliced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups of a full-bodied young red wine, or a Chianti
2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Crumbled bay leaf
Blanched bacon rind
18 to 24 small white onions, brown-braised in stock.
1 pound fresh mushrooms, quartered, sautéed in butter
Parsley sprigs
Remove rind, and cut bacon into lardoons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 cups of water. Drain and dry.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.
Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.
In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.
Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in the middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
Stir in the wine and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.
When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.
Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, 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 it is too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for the seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.
Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.
For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice and decorated with parsley.
For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.
~ENJOY!
Copyright image: Gareth Morgans
Rometti Limoncello 