Beef Bourguignon

Beef Bourguignon

I happened to watch the movie 'Julie and Julia' suggested by an old friend. I guess she knew my passion for cooking. Maybe if I never had seen the movie I would never had known about such a wonderful dish. Thank you my friend.  I read a lot about the dish and I found wine to be an integral part of the dish. But as we don’t consume wine as part of our culture I had dropped out the thought of making the dish and tasting it though I badly wanted to try it. On further searches I found that wine can be substituted with grape vinegar and grape juice without compromising on the taste. That is when I decided that Beouf bourguignon is going to be on my ‘to do’ list. This french dish originated from the Burgundy region (in French, Bourgogne) and so came the name. The dish requires less preparation time but hours of cooking time and so is definitely not one of those dishes which you would prepare quite often. But trust me its worth a try. The feeling of accomplishment after the long process is just awesome.

The dish is a stew prepared with beef braised in red wine, traditionally red Burgundy, and beef broth, generally flavoured with garlic, onions and a bouquet garni (bunch of herbs including thyme and bay leaves) , with pearl onions and mushrooms added towards the end of cooking. My recipe would substitute the wine with grape vinegar and pure grape juice in the right proportion to give you that authentic taste without the touch of wine.

Ingredients


·         Beef cut into 2 inches (5 cm) cubes : 1 Kg

·         Salt : 1/2 teaspoon

·         Pepper : 1 1/2 teaspoon

·         All purpose Flour : 3 tablespoons

·         Red grape juice (100% juice no sugar added) : 3 cups

·         Red grape vinegar : 1 cup

·         Carrot : 2 nos ( cut into chunks)

·         Onion : 3 (sliced length wise)

·         Beef stock : 5 cups 

·         Tomato paste or tomato puree : 2-3 tablespoon

·         Garlic : 1 bulb ( with the peel and cut into halves)

·         Thyme leaves : 1 teaspoon

·         Bay leaves : 2

·         Shallots / pearl onions : 20-24 nos

·         Mushrooms : 250 grams 

Serves 6

Carrot chunks

Directions:

1.Dry the meat cubes carefully with paper towels or muslin cloth

2.In a casserole/pan, sauté the beef until it’s golden brown in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Remove it to a side dish and set aside.

3.In the same casserole/pan, add some olive oil and sauté the carrots and the onions.

4.Return the beef to the casserole. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, then add the flour and toss.



5. Stir in the juice,vinegar, stock, tomato paste, halved garlic cloves, thyme and  bay leaves.

6.Bring it to simmering point on the stove.

7.Cover the pot and place it on very low heat and simmer for 3 -4 hours until gravy thickens.

8.While the stew is cooking, prepare shallots and mushrooms. For the shallots : Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and sauté the peeled shallots until golden brown. Add some beef stock until they’re almost covered and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until almost all the liquid disappears and they’re tender but keep their shape. Set aside.

9.Prepare the mushrooms as well: If you are using button mushrooms you need not slice them. Sauté them in 2 tablespoons butter. Keep on stirring until they’re nicely brown. Set aside.

10.When meat is tender,  Put onions and mushrooms over the meat.

11.Skim the fat off. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Skim additional fat if it rises. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If not, boil it until it thickens. If it’s too thick, stir in some stock to make it lighter.

12.Serve  and enjoy! Some goods sides are potatoes, noodles or rice.

Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: You can keep leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you want to freeze it, it lasts up to 3 months.