Welcome to our blog series on cooking with wine in which we continue our culinary adventure with Beef Bourguignon. When you have a craving for comfort food, try this recipe. You can use any of your favourite red wines, including dry or off-dry.
Before we begin, there’s one thing that we find really handy and that’s to know a few things up front. First, how long will it take to prep, cook, set aside, refrigerate, etc. before it’s ready to eat? Second, how many people will it serve? Lastly, the grocery list.
Nice to know details
As a general rule, set aside the following times:
- 45 minutes preparation and finishing
- 5 hours cooking (includes preparation and finishing)
- Serves 8 – 10 people
Grocery List
- 1/2 pound of bacon
- 3 pounds of stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
- 475 millilitres of pickled pearl onions
- 1 large carrot
- 6 – 8 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups of red wine
- 3 cups of beef broth
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 pound of white button mushrooms
- 1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley
Cooking
Just to be safe, it’s a good idea to have an extra bottle of the red wine you’re using in the recipe. You might want to have a few sips during the cooking stage. Also, you’ll need a bottle to be served with dinner!
Prepare the ingredients
Bacon
- Cut 1/2 pound of bacon into 1/2 inch lengths
- Sauté in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp (about 10 minutes)
- Remove the bacon, placing it in a bowl, but leave the fat in the Dutch oven
Beef
- Cut 3 pounds of stewing beef into 2 inch cubes and place in a large bowl
- Add 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
- Toss until the beef is well-coated
- Sauté over high heat in the Dutch oven until beef is browned on all sides (about 30 minutes)
- Remove the beef, placing it in a bowl, but leave the brown bits in the Dutch oven
Vegetables
- Drain 475 millilitres of pickled pearl onions and place onions in the Dutch oven
- Peel and slice 1 large carrot into 1/8 inch slices and add to the Dutch oven
- Peel and mince 6-8 garlic cloves and add to the Dutch oven
- Add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the Dutch oven
- Sauté vegetables over medium heat until everything is slightly browned
Roasting
- Add prepared bacon and beef to the Dutch oven along with 3 cups of red wine, 3 cups of beef broth, 4 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme
- Roast covered at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 4 hours
Finishing
- Place 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan
- Clean and quarter 1 pound of mushrooms and add to the frying pan
- Sauté over medium heat until lightly browned (about 5 minutes)
- Add to the Dutch oven along with 1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley
Serving
If it’s just for you, serve it right out of the Dutch oven. If you’re serving guests, transfer it to large serving bowl. You’ll be absolutely amazed at how scrumptious this dish is. They say “anything with bacon is delicious” and “they” are right!
Try it with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus or broccoli.
Pairing
We recommend serving this meal with a bottle of your very own DIY craft red wine. If you’ve used a particular one during cooking, serve the same one with dinner. This always helps to enhance both the flavours in the dish and also the wine.
Tips
- This dish freezes beautifully so you can enjoy it over and over again
- The pickled onions add a little vinegar flavour so if you’re wanting to use raw pearl onions, peel and boil them first before browning them and add a tablespoon of vinegar when placing them in the Dutch oven.
We hope you enjoy this Cooking With Wine – Beef Bourguignon recipe.
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