When we went to Paris the first meal we had after arriving on our 23 hour flight then navigating the public transport to find our apartment was Beef Bourguignon and it will now forever more remind me of Paris. We had attempted the previous night to eat out at a cafe but with jet lag and the crazy Paris traffic we were on sensory overload. We had attempted to order at a cafe but with me being almost being squashed by a lift coming out of the ground and not understanding the waiter screaming at me the language barrier that first evening was too much for us to bear so instead we shopped handed over 80 euro for some groceries nodded polietly when she muttered au revoir and cooked our own meal. What it was I can’t tell you because we were that tired.
So it was the next day before we tried ‘traditional fare’ or attempting to order. We had been walking all day..having started early before the Parisians even threw back their shutters at 730 just sucking up the reality we were in when at 3pm realised we hadn’t eaten. We stumbled on a hotel on a quiet intersection touting ‘an all day menu’ {tout menu du jour} and went in. The waitress understood english {or took pity} and handed us an english menu before we even opened our mouths to say parlez-vous anglais.Amongst the tourist fare of Foie Gras, Escargot and Coq Au Vin was boeuf à la Bourguignonne or Beef Borguignon exactly what my cold little tootsies wanted.
Served in a little Le Creuset pot with crusty french bread I’m not sure if was because we were in France or because we were starved hungry but that Beef Bourgenion was the best I had ever tasted and this recipe is the closest I have found to it.
Beef Bourguignon
What you will need
- 900g stewing beef, cut into 6 large chunks
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 150g cubes of smoked bacon
- 10 button onions or shallots, peeled
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed flat
- 1 bay leaf
- bunch parsley, stalks only
- sprig of thyme
- sprig of rosemary
- 3 cloves
- 10 peppercorns, crushed
- 500ml red wine
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 mushrooms
- parsley leaves, chopped, to garnish
How to:
- Preheat the oven to 150C
- Dust each piece of meat with flour. Heat the oil in a large casserole over a high heat and fry the meat in batches until browned. Remove each batch, keeping the oil, then fry the lardons, onions and garlic in the same pan until golden brown. Add in the herbs and spices and return the meat to the pan. Add 300ml/10fl oz water, the wine, tomato paste, sugar and salt. Scrape up the caramelized bits as they will add flavour.
- Cover, place in the oven and cook for three hours or until the meat is tender and almost falling apart.
- About 20 minutes before the stew is ready, add the mushrooms into the stew and season with salt to taste.
- Garnish the stew with parsley and serve with the fresh crusty bread.
{Original recipe here with image from here with thanks}
