Boeuf Bourguignon is a traditional French recipe that originates from the Burgundy region. It is quite time consuming as the meat needs to prepared the day before, but we promise that it is all worth it 🙂

Normally we would make this dish in the late autumn or winter, as it is perfect for cold and dark evenings with a candle or two on the table (how romantic). But unfortunately we are having a very cold spring this year (we are still having freezing weather :-(), and decided to get warm and cozy while eating this fabulous dish. Actually we also made it to celebrate, that  I (Ann) have got my first scientific article accepted in an international journal – hooray for that 😀

Well, we hope that you will take time to make this fabulous dish, as it deserves to be made – and because you deserve to taste a great traditional French dish.

Ingredients (6 servings)

3 pounds stewing beef

20 slices bacon

1 bottle red wine

2 cups beef stock

1/5 cup cognac

5 large carrots, peeled

1/2 celeriac, peeled

6 banana shallots

2-3 tbsp. flour

1 bundle thyme

1 bundle parsley

4 bay leaves

1 leek top

30-40 mushrooms

Salt

Pepper

3-4 pounds potatoes

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Clean the meat from fat and cut it into 2 x 2 inch cubes and marinate it in the red wine over night. When marinated, separate the the meat from the wine, but don’t throw out the wine. Dry the meat with some paper towel.

Cut shallots, carrots and celeriac into equally sized pieces. Clean the leek top carefully and tie it together with the parsley, thyme and bay leaves. The herbs are tied together, so they are easy to remove before serving.

Cut the bacon slices into pieces and fry it in a large thick bottomed pot. Remove the fried bacon but leave the melted fat in the pot. Brown the meat in the fat and remove it like you did with the bacon and sauté the onions and 2/3 of the carrot and celeriac cubes. When sautéed add the browned meat and the bacon and stir to combine before adding the cognac. Cook until the cognac is almost evaporated. Then sprinkle the flour on top of the dish and stir again to combine.

Add the beef stock, red wine and the herb bouquet and bring to a boil. Skim the scum off if necessary. Put a lid on the pot and let cook for 4-5 hours. If you use a cast iron pot, you can  put it in the oven at 270F instead.

While the meat and vegetables are cooking, you can prepare the rest. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes and place them in a pot. Cover with cold water.

Clean the mushrooms and cut them into half or quarter, depending on their size. Set both the potatoes and mushrooms a side until 30 minutes before the meat is finished.

Half an hour before you plan to serve this delicious dinner, you can begin to cook the potatoes. Let cook for approximately 20-25 minutes. Pour the water from the cooked potatoes and add butter and milk. Mash the potatoes gently and season with salt and pepper.

Add the remaining 1/3 carrots and celeriac to the stew approximately 10 minutes before serving and stir to combine.

While the potatoes cook you can roast the mushrooms on a hot pan. When roasted, add to the stew and stir to combine. Remove the herb bouquet and season the stew with salt and pepper and serve with the mashed potatoes.

Serve with a good red wine 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (6 servings)

1350 stewing beef

20 slices bacon

1 bottle red wine

5 dl beef stock

0.5 dl cognac

5 large carrots, peeled

0.5 celeriac, peeled

6 banana shallots

2-3 tbsp. flour

1 bundle thyme

1 bundle parsley

4 bay leaves

1 leek top

30-40 mushrooms

Salt

Pepper

1400-1800 g potatoes

2 tbsp. butter

1.25 dl milk

Salt

Pepper