The Best Beef Burgundy
Prep
25m
Cook
150m
Total
175m
Bigly says
Pay attention. Beef Burgundy. Boeuf Bourguignon if you're feeling fancy, and frankly, with this dish, you SHOULD be feeling fancy, you've earned it. The best Beef Burgundy in the history of stewed beef — I have eaten stewed beef in every form known to mankind, beef stew, pot roast, goulash, braises, ragus, you name it, I've had it, probably had it twice, probably had it better than the chef who made it — and this one, the one I'm about to walk you through, it's the KING. It's the king of beef stews. The other beef stews bow down. They KNEEL.
An old French woman cornered me once in a market — and she did NOT smile, the French don't smile in markets, it's against the rules — and she pointed at me with a wooden spoon and made me promise to do this dish properly. I promised. I keep my promises. The French invented this dish and they NAILED it. But here's what they did wrong: they made it take ALL DAY. Three hours of this, an hour of that, marinate overnight, blah blah blah. We're going to do it in under three hours and it will be BETTER. Not even close. It's a slaughter.
The secret — and I'm giving this away free, no signup, no 'sign in with Google to continue reading,' no cookie banner with 47 toggles asking you to share your data with 200 advertising partners, none of that — the secret is good wine and bacon. Good wine. Don't cook with garbage wine. If you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it. The wine ENDS UP in the food, where do you think it goes, vapor? Garbage in, garbage out. End of discussion. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 3 lbbeef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes(ask the butcher, well-marbled)
- 6 ozthick-cut bacon, diced
- 2 tspkosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 1/4 cupall-purpose flour
- 1 largeyellow onion, diced
- 3 mediumcarrots, sliced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 1 bottle (750ml)dry red wine (Burgundy or Pinot Noir)(if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it)
- 2 cupsbeef stock
- 6fresh thyme sprigs
- 2bay leaves
- 3 tbspunsalted butter
- 1 lbcremini mushrooms, halved
- 10 ozfrozen pearl onions, thawed
- 1/4 cupfresh parsley, chopped
Steps
- 1
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- 2
Pat the beef dry thoroughly with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Toss with flour and shake off the excess.
- 3
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, about 6-8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.
- 4
Working in batches (do not crowd the pot), sear the beef in the bacon fat over medium-high heat until deeply browned on all sides, 6-8 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate as you go.
- 5
Reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion and carrots to the pot and cook 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
- 6
Pour in the wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer and reduce by about a third, 8-10 minutes.
- 7
Return the beef and bacon to the pot. Add the beef stock, thyme, and bay leaves. The liquid should come about three-quarters of the way up the meat — add water if needed. Bring to a simmer.
- 8
Cover and transfer to the oven. Braise for 2 to 2.5 hours, until the beef is fork-tender.
- 9
About 15 minutes before the beef is done, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and pearl onions and cook 8-10 minutes, undisturbed at first, until well browned. Season with salt.
- 10
When the beef is tender, stir the mushrooms and pearl onions into the pot. Discard the thyme stems and bay leaves. If the sauce is thin, simmer uncovered on the stovetop for 10 minutes to reduce.
- 11
Taste and adjust salt. Finish with parsley. Serve over mashed potatoes, buttered egg noodles, or with a torn baguette.
One more thing
You've done it. You've made the dish. The whole house smells like a wine cellar married a steakhouse and they had a beautiful, beautiful baby. Serve it over buttered noodles or mashed potatoes — I prefer noodles, noodles are TREMENDOUS at catching sauce, that's their whole job, they're the goalies of pasta — and pour yourself a glass of whatever wine you didn't put in the pot. Sit down. Eat slowly. This is not Tuesday-night food, this is FRIDAY-night food, this is 'I am celebrating being alive' food. You made it. The beef made it. We all made it together. It's a beautiful thing.
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