Stacy’s Boeuf Bourguignon
For Stuey1515 .... and anyone else that wants to make a great Boeuf Bourguignon
Edit: Just to be clear, this is my wife’s recipe, not mine. I have nothing to do with it other than eating this magnificent dish. Stacy is an amazing cook in her own right, and much more versatile across many more styles of cooking than I am. This gave me the opportunity to test my recipe format and style with something that is not my own recipe. It looks like it works well. I intend to add this to the cookbook that I shall, someday, write. Not in a huge hurry on that yet.
This is Julia Child’s classic Boeuf Bourguignon, in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Stacy has been working on making this for 10 years now. It started at the request of Stacy’s oldest son when he was just in 6th grade (11 years old), who had decided to learn how to cook and asked us to buy Julia Child’s book. Stacy decided to tackle this recipe herself and then got hooked on it. She makes it 6-10 times a year now and I think she really has it perfected. I have eaten Boeuf Bourguignon in restaurants in France many times and this is better.
If you want the original recipe, it is available at https://www.oprah.com/food/boeuf-bourguignon
A few notes
I spent about an hour with Stacy talking through the changes she has made in this recipe. First thing to know is that it is twice the size of Julia’s original recipe. But at one point we were serving a family of 6, including 2 teenage boys. She tuned the ratios of meat, stock, wine, onions, and mushrooms as well. Additionally, meat today is ... generally .... much leaner than when Julia was originally writing this recipe. Some of the stages removing the fat are no longer needed. However, if you are using chuck roast rather than lean stew meat, you may need to remove fat throughout the cooking process. Stacy finds that the sauce is thick enough the way she does it, but you may need to reduce it somewhat, depending.
The wine: Best choice is a Beaujolais. You can do a red Burgundy, although that is expensive and this is originally a peasant dish. You can also do Chianti, as she did this last time. But Stacy feels the flavor won’t be as robust with a Chianti.
Beef stock: We use 3 cups of my beef stock, which I make from bones left over from short ribs, rib roasts, etc. If you are using store bought stock, get good stuff, not the cheapest you can find. Also, pay attention to the salt if store bought.
Bacon: She often uses home smoked bacon, but if it is store bought then buy something quality, like Hempler’s.
Takes (how long)
Food prep - 30 minutes to gather, cut, chop, etc
Cooking time - 45-60 minutes to cook bacon, meat, veggies and about 3 hours to cook the stew, depending on quantities
Serve with
Serve over egg noodles, potatoes, or rice. Our preference is egg noodles.
Serve with crusty bread, sautéed green beans (or similar bright, crunchy vegetable) or simply serve the stew by itself.
Serve with the same wine that you used to cook the stew.
Special tools
You will need a Dutch oven. For the amount that Stacy makes, she uses the Kirkland enameled cast iron 6.5 quart. You will need something about that size to handle this recipe size. In a pinch, you could do it in a heavy steel pot.
Ingredients
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Add oil to the Dutch oven and heat to medium heat
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. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef. You may need to add oil right now if there is not much bacon fat left.
Dry the stewing 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 carrots and onion. Pour out the sautéing fat, if necessary.
Return the beef and bacon to the Dutch oven and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set Dutch oven uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 8 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 8 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove Dutch oven, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
Stir 3 cups stock in with the meat and veggies, then add enough wine (this will be a bottle, or a bit more) so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the Dutch oven 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.
Brown braise the onions. Add butter and oil to skillet over medium heat. When the butter is bubbling, add the onions and sauté for about 10 minutes. Roll the onions about so that they brown evenly and take care not to break the skins. Add the bouquet garni and the wine, reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 45 to 50 minutes until the onions are tender, but retain shape and the liquid has evaporated. Remove bouquet and reserve until needed below.
Sauté the mushrooms. Add butter and oil to skillet over high heat. As soon as the butter foam begins to subside, add the mushrooms. Toss pan for 4 to 5 minutes. When the mushrooms have lightly browned, remove from heat.
When the meat is tender (about 3 hours), taste carefully for seasoning and add salt if needed. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point. Add the mushrooms and onions, distribute evenly in the stew. Cover and keep hot while prepping everything to serve. The onions and mushrooms will come to the same temperature as the stew.
Serve as described above
Pictures
The ingredients, other than the beef and bacon
What it looks like when you are at the point where it goes in the oven to simmer. This is how much wine and stock should be in the pot. Do not add so much that your contents are floating, you want the meat just barely covered.
This is what it looks like as you are adding the onions and mushrooms and about ready to serve.
Edit: Just to be clear, this is my wife’s recipe, not mine. I have nothing to do with it other than eating this magnificent dish. Stacy is an amazing cook in her own right, and much more versatile across many more styles of cooking than I am. This gave me the opportunity to test my recipe format and style with something that is not my own recipe. It looks like it works well. I intend to add this to the cookbook that I shall, someday, write. Not in a huge hurry on that yet.
This is Julia Child’s classic Boeuf Bourguignon, in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Stacy has been working on making this for 10 years now. It started at the request of Stacy’s oldest son when he was just in 6th grade (11 years old), who had decided to learn how to cook and asked us to buy Julia Child’s book. Stacy decided to tackle this recipe herself and then got hooked on it. She makes it 6-10 times a year now and I think she really has it perfected. I have eaten Boeuf Bourguignon in restaurants in France many times and this is better.
If you want the original recipe, it is available at https://www.oprah.com/food/boeuf-bourguignon
A few notes
I spent about an hour with Stacy talking through the changes she has made in this recipe. First thing to know is that it is twice the size of Julia’s original recipe. But at one point we were serving a family of 6, including 2 teenage boys. She tuned the ratios of meat, stock, wine, onions, and mushrooms as well. Additionally, meat today is ... generally .... much leaner than when Julia was originally writing this recipe. Some of the stages removing the fat are no longer needed. However, if you are using chuck roast rather than lean stew meat, you may need to remove fat throughout the cooking process. Stacy finds that the sauce is thick enough the way she does it, but you may need to reduce it somewhat, depending.
The wine: Best choice is a Beaujolais. You can do a red Burgundy, although that is expensive and this is originally a peasant dish. You can also do Chianti, as she did this last time. But Stacy feels the flavor won’t be as robust with a Chianti.
Beef stock: We use 3 cups of my beef stock, which I make from bones left over from short ribs, rib roasts, etc. If you are using store bought stock, get good stuff, not the cheapest you can find. Also, pay attention to the salt if store bought.
Bacon: She often uses home smoked bacon, but if it is store bought then buy something quality, like Hempler’s.
Takes (how long)
Food prep - 30 minutes to gather, cut, chop, etc
Cooking time - 45-60 minutes to cook bacon, meat, veggies and about 3 hours to cook the stew, depending on quantities
Serve with
Serve over egg noodles, potatoes, or rice. Our preference is egg noodles.
Serve with crusty bread, sautéed green beans (or similar bright, crunchy vegetable) or simply serve the stew by itself.
Serve with the same wine that you used to cook the stew.
Special tools
You will need a Dutch oven. For the amount that Stacy makes, she uses the Kirkland enameled cast iron 6.5 quart. You will need something about that size to handle this recipe size. In a pinch, you could do it in a heavy steel pot.
Ingredients
- 1 lb bacon (quality, like Hemplers), cut into lardons
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
- 5 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
- 2 sliced carrot
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 4 Tbsp. flour
- 2 bottles full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti or Beaujolais
- 3 cups quality beef stock
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste (we get the Cento stuff in a squeeze tube)
- 4 cloves mashed garlic
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 2 Crumbled bay leaf
- 25-30 pearl onions, peeled (can blanch them first to make peeling easier)
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine (the same wine you are using for the main stew)
- Bouquet garni of parsley, bay leaf, and thyme tied in cheese cloth
- 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced - white, button, cremini, just basic mushrooms
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Add oil to the Dutch oven and heat to medium heat
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. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef. You may need to add oil right now if there is not much bacon fat left.
Dry the stewing 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 carrots and onion. Pour out the sautéing fat, if necessary.
Return the beef and bacon to the Dutch oven and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set Dutch oven uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 8 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 8 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove Dutch oven, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
Stir 3 cups stock in with the meat and veggies, then add enough wine (this will be a bottle, or a bit more) so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the Dutch oven 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.
Brown braise the onions. Add butter and oil to skillet over medium heat. When the butter is bubbling, add the onions and sauté for about 10 minutes. Roll the onions about so that they brown evenly and take care not to break the skins. Add the bouquet garni and the wine, reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 45 to 50 minutes until the onions are tender, but retain shape and the liquid has evaporated. Remove bouquet and reserve until needed below.
Sauté the mushrooms. Add butter and oil to skillet over high heat. As soon as the butter foam begins to subside, add the mushrooms. Toss pan for 4 to 5 minutes. When the mushrooms have lightly browned, remove from heat.
When the meat is tender (about 3 hours), taste carefully for seasoning and add salt if needed. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point. Add the mushrooms and onions, distribute evenly in the stew. Cover and keep hot while prepping everything to serve. The onions and mushrooms will come to the same temperature as the stew.
Serve as described above
Pictures
The ingredients, other than the beef and bacon
What it looks like when you are at the point where it goes in the oven to simmer. This is how much wine and stock should be in the pot. Do not add so much that your contents are floating, you want the meat just barely covered.
This is what it looks like as you are adding the onions and mushrooms and about ready to serve.
. We set our menu by the week, so I’ll give it a try soon. Thanks for the recipe and pics.
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