It’s hard for me to imagine how many millions of people who love to cook abandoned everything and started their lives from scratch exactly ten years ago, after watching the movie “Julie and Julia”. My friends and I were just such people, we opened one of the first cooking schools in Ukraine. For the first time I learned about such a dish as beef bourguignon in this film, and I was eager to find out what this dish tasted like. Teaching us how to cook a mysterious French dish was the first task for our chef in the French course. We took Julia Child’s recipe from the book “The Basics of Classic French Cuisine” as a basis.
It’s hard for me to imagine how many millions of people who love to cook abandoned everything and started their lives from scratch exactly ten years ago, after watching the movie “Julie and Julia”. My friends and I were just such people, we opened one of the first cooking schools in Ukraine. For the first time I learned about such a dish as beef bourguignon in this film, and I was eager to find out what this dish tasted like. Teaching us how to cook a mysterious French dish was the first task for our chef in the French course. We took Julia Child’s recipe from the book “The Basics of Classic French Cuisine” as a basis.- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Cook time: 3 hours – 3 hours 30 minutes
- Serves: 8-10
- Difficulty: challenging
- Course: main course
- Cookware: cast iron casserole
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 1.4 kg lean beef, coarsely chopped, 5-8 cm cubes
- 170 g bacon
- 500 ml beef stock
- 400 ml red wine
- 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
- 1 onion, peeled, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp thyme
- 1 bay leaf, crushed
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
For the side dish:
- 1 kg cup mushrooms, chopped coarsely
- 320 g pickled pearl onions
- 100 ml oil
- ½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped
- ½ bunch of chives, finely chopped
Cooking method
Step 1
Heat oven to 160°C. Dry the meat with kitchen paper. Thinly slice the bacon. Heat the oil in a casserole over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and fry the bacon for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a separate dish.
Step 2
In the remaining oil, put in enough meat to cover the bottom of the casserole and fry the first batch until it is evenly browned on all sides. When you fry the meat in batches, the liquid that the meat releases will have time to evaporate and the meat will be fried, not steamed. Remove the meat from the pan and transfer to the bacon. Repeat until all beef is browned. In a casserole in the remaining fat, fry the carrots and onions over medium heat. Drain off fat.
Step 3
Return the bacon and beef to the casserole. Add flour and mix well to evenly coat the meat. Fry for 4 minutes over medium heat. Add tomato paste, wine, garlic, herbs, pepper, and salt. Bring to boil and evaporate to about one third. Then add the stock, bring to boil again. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 2 hours 30 minutes – 3 hours until the meat is very tender.
Step 4
Make the side dish. Fry the cup mushrooms in a pan in oil. Add chives and parsley at the end. Put pickled onions in a colander, drain and rinse under cold water.
Step 5
When the meat is done, drain the liquid from the casserole through a sieve into a saucepan. Cover the casserole and keep the meat warm. Bring the sauce to boil on low heat and discard the fat that has risen. Increase heat to medium and evaporate sauce until cooked. A thin film should adhere to a metal spoon dipped into the sauce. If the sauce is too runny, boil it over high heat. If too thick, add a couple of tablespoons of broth to it. Season to taste. To serve, place the meat on the plate, add mushrooms and onions and pour the sauce over the dish.
My tips and tricks:
I completely agree with you – the dish is complicated and takes time. But, for such a dish, you can take inexpensive meat, because in the process of cooking the silver skins in the meat will become soft and make it juicier. Despite the fact that it takes 3 hours 30 minutes to cook, your quality cast iron casserole does most of the work. So, of course, you will spend time, but you will save money, why not?
- 1.4 kg lean beef, coarsely chopped, 5-8cm cubes
- 170 g bacon
- 500 ml beef stock
- 400 ml red wine
- 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
- 1 onion, peeled, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp thyme
- 1 bay leaf, crushed
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- For the side dish:
- 1 kg cup mushrooms, chopped coarsely
- 320 g pickled pearl onions
- 100 ml oil
- ½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped
- ½ bunch of chives, finely chopped
- Heat oven to 160°C. Dry the meat with kitchen paper. Thinly slice the bacon. Heat the oil in a casserole over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and fry the bacon for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a separate dish.
- In the remaining oil, put in enough meat to cover the bottom of the casserole and fry the first batch until it is evenly browned on all sides. When you fry the meat in batches, the liquid that the meat releases will have time to evaporate and the meat will be fried, not steamed. Remove the meat from the pan and transfer to the bacon. Repeat until all beef is browned. In a casserole in the remaining fat, fry the carrots and onions over medium heat. Drain off fat.
- Return the bacon and beef to the casserole. Add flour and mix well to evenly coat the meat. Fry for 4 minutes over medium heat. Add tomato paste, wine, garlic, herbs, pepper, and salt. Bring to boil and evaporate to about one third. Then add the stock, bring to boil again. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 2 hours 30 minutes - 3 hours until the meat is very tender.
- Make the side dish. Fry the cup mushrooms in a pan in oil. Add chives and parsley at the end. Put pickled onions in a colander, drain and rinse under cold water.
- When the meat is done, drain the liquid from the casserole through a sieve into a saucepan. Cover the casserole and keep the meat warm. Bring the sauce to boil on low heat and discard the fat that has risen. Increase heat to medium and evaporate sauce until cooked. A thin film should adhere to a metal spoon dipped into the sauce. If the sauce is too runny, boil it over high heat. If too thick, add a couple of tablespoons of broth to it. Season to taste. To serve, place the meat on the plate, add mushrooms and onions and pour the sauce over the dish.