Beef Bourguignon

This was a hug improvement on my first attempt.  Less salt and some changes to the ingredient amounts made the difference.  Read the 1st attempt to see how I actually made the stew.  I take you through the steps in more depth.

TIME

• 1 hour for prep and pre-oven cooking
• 2-3 hours in the oven
• 15 minutes to prep and cook the final veggies

INGREDIENTS (shopping for the ingredients)

• 3 slices bacon, diced 1/2″
• 1/2 lb beef stew meat, dried (*don’t* use lean meat, it’ll be tough)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• pinch of gray sea salt (1/8 tsp if you want to be exact)
• 1.5 cup young red wine
• 1.5 cup beef stock
• 1.5 tsp tomato paste
• 1 clove garlic, mashed
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 4 oz pearl onions (about 8-10)
• 4 oz chanterelle mushrooms
• 1 tsp butter
• parsley sprig for garnish

PRE-OVEN COOKING

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Add 2 slices of chopped bacon to a 2.5 quart saucepan over medium heat (preferably something like Caphalon with a fitting lid).
• Fry until slightly crispy (10-12 minutes)
• Remove bacon with slotted spoon, set aside
• Brown meat a few at a time on all sides in the bacon fat set aside (don’t crowd)
• Fry 3rd slice of bacon until slightly crispy and remove with a slotted spoon
• Reduce heat to medium and saute onions and carrots until soft, set aside (5-7 minutes)
• Add beef back into pot with flour, salt and pepper
• Toss to coat with flour, turn beef to create a flour crust
• Add sauteed veggies, wine, beef stock, tomato paste, garlic and rosemary
• Bring to a boil without cover
• Add cover and put into bottom 3rd of oven

OVEN TIME

• At 2 hours, deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup beef broth
• Put back into over for another 30 minutes to 1 hour for beef to cook.

PREPARING THE FINAL VEGGIES (15 minutes)

• Boil the carrots and pearl onions together for about 6 minutes.
• Strain under cold water for 1 minute to cool down
• Remove outer layer of pearl onion
• Sauté the mushrooms in butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

FINAL STEP

• Remove casserole from oven when beef is easily pierced by a fork
• Heat casserole on medium low and add pearl onions, carrots and mushrooms
• Check for taste and adjust for salt and pepper

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