My take on Boeuf Burguignon

This was very nearly Beef Gonrong! As I said a couple of days ago, I read a number of recipes from different sources before deciding how to make this dish. When it was time to eat, the sauce was too thin and too acidic and the meat was edible but still a bit chewy. There was ample for two meals so the next day I boiled it up again then transferred the stew to my slow cooker and let it cook in there for about 4 hours on low. What a transformation! The meat held its shape but you could cut it with a fork. So what follows will be the way I intend to cook it next time:-

900g shin beef cut into 5cm chunks

150g streaky bacon cut across into approx 5mm wide strips

40g butter

Light olive oil

2 medium onions finely chopped

2 carrots about 5mm dice

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 cups red wine

2 cups beef stock from cube or Knorr Stockpot

Heaped tbsp tomato purée

2 bay leaves

Pinch smoked pimento ( optional)

Bouquet garni sachet

200g button mushrooms or closed cup mushrooms quartered

12 round shallots peeled

Handful of chopped parsley

Plain flour

Salt and pepper.

Serves 4 - 6 people

This is a long process and cannot be rushed. Preparation time about 15 minutes. Cooking time about 7 hours.

Shin beef contains lots of connective tissue, which increases the flavour but needs long slow cooking to become tender. Make sure that the wine you use, if not Burgundy, would still be wine you would be happy to drink. If you don’t want to use wine you could use beer or stout. It will not be Boeuf Bourguignon but it will still be very tasty.

Put some plain flour on a plate and season with pepper. Coat the pieces of beef in the flour and shake off the excess.

Heat a little oil in a large pan approx. 23cm dia. Add the bacon pieces and fry over a low heat until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Increase the heat slightly and add the pieces of beef to the pan and brown on all sides then remove these also and set aside. Do not crowd the pan and brown the meat in batches, you want to get some colour on the meat not stew it.

Pour off any excess fat, then melt 20g of the butter and add the chopped onions, garlic and carrots with the pinch of pimento if used. Stir well, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent.

Add a little of the wine to the pan and with a wooden spoon scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any crusty bits or particles stuck to the bottom. Add a bit more wine if it evaporates before you finish. Add the rest of the wine, tomato purée, bouquet garni, half the mushrooms and the bay leaves then bring to the boil.

Return the beef and bacon to the pan together with any juices and add enough stock to just cover the meat and vegetables. Bring back to the boil then transfer the contents of the pan to a slow cooker. Cover the surface of the stew with a cartouche of greaseproof paper and cook on slow for about 6 hours or until the meat is really tender.

Heat half the remaining butter in a frying pan with a little olive oil to stop it from burning and gently fry the whole shallots until golden brown. Remove and set aside. In the same pan add the last of the butter and sauté the mushrooms until golden and set aside with the shallots.

About half an hour before you want to eat transfer the stew back to the original sized pan. Remove the bay leaves and bouquet garni. Add the shallots, mushrooms and chopped parsley, reserving some parsley for garnish and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Check and correct the sauce consistency, seasoning and acidity. Serve with potato and celeriac mash or boiled potatoes and seasonal vegetables.