Bold. Hearty. Comforting: French Beef Bourguignon Stew

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Please, please, PLEASE do not ask me how to pronounce "Bourguignon." While this stew tastes authentic, my French pronunciation is not. Still, something about cooking with a deep red wine makes me want to tie my apron on tight and twirl around the kitchen, speaking in boisterous French (aka gibberish) and slathering goat cheese on a crusty baguette.  On second thought, maybe that's what drinking a deep red wine does to me.  Either way, making this meal was a delight.

There is something I must tell you up front: this Beef Bourguignon has to simmer for about 3 hours.  This fact is both beautiful and a pain in the butt - beautiful in that the long, slow simmer combines the flavors from the beef, broth, and vegetables into one magnificent creation, a pain in the butt in that who has 3 hours to make dinner? To ensure that no one is scared away by the lengthy cook time, I have also included a link to a slow cooker version that is similar to this one. Set it and forget it, if that's your style! 

I found the recipe for this stew on Beyond Wonderful. I adapted it a bit to fit my own kitchen and the ingredients that I rustled up, and also tried to make a healthier version.  I'm trying to ease out of my whole-stick-a-butter syndrome that I mentioned in my last post, and am having some success but haven't quite been able to quit cold turkey.

  Above: These cuts of meat are simple beef
stew meat, which I bought from
Shield's Meat and Produce
 for its great quality.
Plus it doesn't hurt that they cut it up for me!
Below: Instead of Burgundy, I used a Portuguese
 vinho tinto that had a slightly milder flavor.  

  

 What you need to feed 2: 

• 4 strips bacon
• 1 lb stew beef, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups egg noodles
• Ground black pepper and salt to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups Burgundy (or another quality red drinking wine)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (or a dash of tomato pasta sauce will do!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 carrots, cut in half, and then quartered
• 2 tbs flour
• 1/2 lb brown mushrooms, halved
• 1 cup pearl onions
• 2 tbsp butter
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh parsley, to garnish

What to do:

1. First thing first: fry up that bacon! Use a large skillet so the grease does not splatter everywhere, and be sure to reserve a couple of tablespoons of the grease. Set your bacon aside and break into small pieces when it cools.
2. Sprinkle meat with ground black pepper, and salt if you wish.  I usually try to leave out the salt, especially when cooking with any type of broth, which is high in sodium. Add a little bit of olive oil to the same skillet with the bacon grease in it and brown the beef, making sure it is evenly cooked on all sides.  Then, put the beef aside into a dutch oven.
3. This part is fun: deglaze the greasy skillet with a half cup of the wine.  Scrape the brown bits from the sides and let that yumminess mix together with the wine. Pour the deglaze over the beef in the dutch oven.
4. Then, add bacon, the rest of the wine, broth, tomato paste, and bay leaf to the beef and deglaze liquid and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 2 1/2 hours. 
   
5. Go relax - you have about 2 hours to kick back and enjoy that cheese and French baguette.
6. Now that you are back, it is time to sauté your vegetables.  Heat olive oil on your original skillet and cook carrots until they are golden brown.  I somehow forgot the carrots while shopping for this Gourmet Weekday, so I used fresh green beans instead! Same process, different flavor.  
7. Set carrots aside and do the same for the mushrooms.  Let them soak in a little more red wine, if you like. 
8. Next, sauté your peeled pearl onions in just a tad of butter.  It will give them a nice glow. Sprinkle a little of the flour over the onions and continue cooking until the flour disappears.
   
    
9. Add all of your vegetables to the stew, and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat and veggies are nice and tender. * Tip: if your stew is not as thick as you would like it to be, add flour in small measurements and mix until you reach the consistency you are looking for.
10. Meanwhile, cook 2 cups egg noodles and set aside.  
11. Once your stew is finished cooking, add fresh thyme and use it to top the egg noodles.
12. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve!

 Making this recipe may not improve your French skills, but it will give you a warm, contented feeling deep in your belly and impress whoever you're cooking for.  Until next time - 

Much love,

Deidre 

* Link to slow cooker recipe: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-boeuf-bourguignon-recipes-from-the-kitchn-196361​