As we are all doing last minute preparations for Christmas, I'm getting ready to prepare my Christmas supper. I'm planning to do a French theme meal and the main is Boeuf Bourguignon. I think it's a great holiday meal because it's warm, comforting and yet sophisticated. Last year I tried Julia Child's recipe but was a bit disappointed with the results after all of the time that was invested in the recipe. This time, I used Marc Murphy's recipe and was very pleased with the result. Deliciously tender beef, which has the right balance of vegetables that are perfectly cooked. This can be accompanied with roasted potatoes or buttered noodles. Plan ahead when preparing this recipe because it requires marinating the beef overnight and lots of inactive cook time.
Marinating the beef in wine flavours the stew even more and ensures that the beef stays moist.
This is my bouquet garni.
Begin by browning the bacon in the Dutch oven.
Flour the meat right before searing it to make sure that it stays dry for searing.
The bottom of the pan may look burnt but that's flavour being developed.
The meat once browned.
The vegetables are added once all of the meat has been seared off.
Mushrooms and pearl onions are cooked separately.
This requires lots of burners on your stovetop.
Glazed pearl onions before being added to the stew.
Voilà! A little parsley gives the stew the perfect finishing touch.
Boeuf Bourguignon
Serves 8
Ingredients
Beef:
3 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bottle dry red wine, preferably Burgundy or Côtes du Rhone
2 tablespoons of coarsely ground black pepper
Salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 pound applewood smoked bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices (about 12 slices)
Bouquet Gari:
One 4-inch piece of carrot
4 fresh parsley stems
4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 dried bay leaves
Stew:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch slices on a bias
2 onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Salt
1 pound pearl onions
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Accompaniment; 2 pounds roasted fingerling potatoes or 2 pounds of buttered egg noodles
For the Beef:
Place the beef into a large nonreactive bowl and add the wine. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and let marinate overnight in the fridge.
Drain the beef in a colander with a bowl underneath, reserving the marinade. Place the flour, pepper and some salt in a shallow plate and working in batches, toss the beef in the flour, shaking off and excess.
In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, cook the bacon until the fat has been rendered and the bacon is slightly crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the pot, leaving the fat in the pot and reserving the cooked bacon.
Working in batches, add the coated beef to the pot with the reserved bacon fat and brown on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer the beef from the pot to a bowl and repeat with the remaining beef and seasoned flour until all the beef has been browned, add additional vegetable oil if pot is too dry between batches. Pour off any excess fat in the pot and increase the heat to high. Pour 1/2 cup of reserved wine into the pot and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pot. Pour the liquid over the beef.
For the bouquet gari: Using kitchen string, tie together the carrot, parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaves, making a bouquet garni.
For the stew: Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat in the same pot used to brown the beef and add the garlic, carrots and onions. Cook until the onions are slightly golden, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the reserved marinade, beef with juices, cooked bacon and bouquet garni, and bring to a simmer. Cook over medium-low heat, partially covered, until the beef is tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Make sure to stir the pot occasionally as it simmers.
In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and blanch the pearl onions for 2 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water, peel and set aside.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a medium saucepan over high heat until the foam subsides. Saute the onions until brown spots appear. Add 1 3/4 cups water, bring to a simmer and partially cover. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until they are tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid is reduced and the onions are glazed, about 10 minutes.
Over high heat, melt the remaining tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet and saute the mushrooms until they are golden and all the liquid they have released evaporates, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Wait until the last 15 minutes of cooking the stew to add the pearl onions and mushrooms, and then cook for the remaining 15 minutes. Remove the bouquet garni and skim the fat from the stew. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve stew over roasted potatoes and garnish with chopped parsley.
Source: adapted from Marc Murphy from the Food Network
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