The French Dish We’re Obsessed With

Beef bourguignon may be the best stew ever. For me, it's because it's fork tender seared beef braised in a sauce that you'll want to pour on everything. It was created by Escoffier and later brought into the spotlight by Julia Child, but more on that in a bit. For now, I'm gonna show you how to make the beef even more delicious. I'm gonna start off with a three pound chuck roast. Other cuts that would work well would be brisket or even short ribs. Now, I like the beef in my beef burgundy to be a little bit bigger. So I'm gonna cut this into roughly three to four ounce pieces or two to two and a half inch cubes. Once the beef is cut up, I'm just gonna transfer it to a bowl or a container. And like I promised in the beginning, to make the beef even more delicious, we are gonna cut up some aromatics. I'm going to roughly slice up one peeled large shallot. Then I'm gonna do one large leek. Now these can sometimes be dirty, so just give them a quick rinse under some water. Next up, I'm going to roughly cut up two ribs of celery and then two carrots. You can peel them or leave them unpeeled as I did. We're going to smash four garlic cloves and we're gonna transfer all of these ingredients right to that container with the beef. We're next going to add in three to four sprigs of fresh thyme, three to four sprigs of some fresh parsley, one bay leaf, about 12 to 15 black peppercorns, and one to two whole cloves. We're going to give it a season with coarse salt and then we're gonna marinate with some wine. Now any wine from the Burgundy region will do. After all, we're making a beef Burgundy, a Cote d'Aron, a Pinot Noir, or even a blend. For me, I'm gonna go with that Pinot Noir. Cover the beef, vegetables, and herbs in that entire bottle of wine. And for a little Escoffier secret, we are gonna add in a splash, around three to four tablespoons of brandy. Now this combined with the wine is going to tenderize and help flavor up the beef to the next level. Using your hands, move all of the ingredients around and before we marinate it, just make sure the beef is completely submerged in the liquid. On goes the lid in the refrigerator for as little as 12 hours and all the way up to 24 hours. Remember, the longer the marinade, the more delicious and tender that beef is going to be. And when you're ready to cook the Bouffe Bourguignon, we are gonna remove that beef marinade right from the refrigerator and immediately take the beef out of that mixture. I like to set it on paper towels over a rack on a sheet tray just so anything can drain off. And then I pat it dry very well with some paper towels. And as we let the chill come off the beef at room temperature for just a few minutes, we are gonna transfer everything in that marinade, the wine, the vegetables, right into a two quart pot. We're gonna crank the heat up to medium and let it cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. Let all those flavors reduce and concentrate to make it more delicious. Now, let's go back over to the countertop where our beef is, remove any paper towels there. We are gonna sear this, but first we wanna season it with coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Now, when seasoning anything, be about a foot away so that you can cover as much surface area as possible, ensuring every bite is absolutely delicious. Once it's seasoned, let's head over to the cooktop. I've got an eight quart Dutch oven. Any large pot like this will absolutely work. I'm going to add in about three to four tablespoons of avocado oil. You could use olive oil or even beef tallow, ghee, or lard. We're gonna crank the heat up to medium high, let it heat up for about 90 seconds. Then we're adding in the beef to sear for about two to two and a half minutes per side, or until they're beautifully golden brown on all sides. Now, while the beef is searing, I'm just gonna pop over and take a look at our wine reducing. You can see some of the impurities that are gathering towards the top and around the outside. We're gonna do a little procedure I was taught in culinary school called skimming the scum. So grab a ladle and remove any of these impurities that are on top. It's just going to make the liquid a little bit cleaner and more delicious. All right, back over to the beef. Let's give it a flip. It's beautifully brown. We're getting that nice maillard crust to help bring about those incredible flavors. That's going to pay dividends in the end of this stew. And we are gonna braise this until it's perfectly tender, but first we're gonna set it to the side. We're going to add in about three tablespoons of tomato paste right to that pot. And what we're gonna do is cook it for two minutes or so. This is going to help deepen the umami flavor in that paste and help add some body to our braising liquid. Once it becomes a rust color, just like this, I know I'm good to go to the next stage. I'm going to drain the wine and brandy from all the vegetables through a fine mesh strainer or a chinois like this, and be sure to get all of that liquid out of there. That, my friends, is gold. You'll immediately start to see it thicken up a bit because of that tomato paste. Now I'm going to add in eight cups of good beef stock. I've got an excellent homemade recipe if you wanna check that out. And it is almost ready to roll, but first I'm gonna show you how to make an old school bouquet garni. I'm gonna remove one of the leaves of leek. Make sure it is clean on all sides. We're gonna lay it flat. Then we're gonna add on about six to eight sprigs of fresh parsley, about six to eight sprigs of fresh thyme, and one bay leaf. Now just fold it over and grab two pieces of butcher's twine that are about a foot each. Then all you wanna do is tie a few knots up and down that leek just to ensure nothing is falling out. And we can easily remove it. Let's add that right to that pot. Give it a generous season of coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper. And because this is the braising liquid to help flavor up everything else, we wanna give it a taste to see where we're at. That's gonna be really good. We're going to add back in the beef and any of the juices that were on that plate. Let's add on a lid and over low to low medium heat, we're gonna cook it for about two to two and a half hours or until fork tender. But do not go far because we've still got some prep to knock out. Beginning with two cups of white pearl onions. I've got a really cool trick to remove them from the peel. Here we go. Slice off the ends. Then we're gonna add them to a pot of boiling water and cook them for only 90 seconds. And at this point, we're going to quickly shock them in an ice bath. And once they're cool to the touch, just take one of those pearl onions and squeeze it. You'll notice the onions will pop right out of that outside shell. Next up, we're gonna quickly peel up six medium sized carrots and then we're gonna cut them into roughly two inch large pieces. And for one of my favorite parts to the stew, mushrooms. I have one pint each of button mushrooms and cremini mushrooms. Now I was always taught to wipe away any unwanted particles from the mushrooms using a damp paper towel. Then just simply quarter the mushrooms. Now we're almost done with the prep. Just hang on for a second, guys, because we are gonna cut up about four to five ounces of pork belly. You could, of course, use thickly sliced bacon. I'm just going to cube these, nothing more than that. Let's take the pork over to the cooktop. I've got a large nonstick skillet and over medium heat, what we wanna do is crisp and brown up these pork lardons and render as much fat as possible. Once the pork is in there, give it a quick season with salt to help draw out any moisture. And once they become brown like this, we wanna remove it. So I'm just gonna swap out to a slotted spoon and set them to the side in the bowl. Now in all that delicious rendered pork fat, we're gonna add in the onions, give it a gentle season of salt and we're gonna saute these for about six to seven minutes or until they become brown and lightly caramelized. Once they're brown like this, let's set them to the side in the bowl. Return that pan right to the burner. I'm gonna add in two tablespoons of unsalted butter. Yes, I'm gonna need a little bit more fat here and we're gonna crank the heat up to high because I'm adding in all of those quartered mushrooms. And another gentle season of coarse salt to help draw out the moisture so that they brown a little bit quicker. We're gonna spread the mushrooms out over the pan as best we can and let them sit untouched for about three to four minutes. Then we're gonna come back and saute them for an additional three to four minutes or until they become beautifully browned like this. Take the time to do this. It's just going to make the beef burgundy that much tastier. And once they're done, I just take everything that I sauteed and add it right to that same pot so that it's all in the same area. The onions, the pork, and hey, even the carrots. Let's turn the heat completely off and just let it sit until we're ready to use it. And now is the time. Let's head over to our beef burgundy. Remove the lid. Oh my gosh. It smells so good in here. Now, once the beef is done, it will register 205F internally. Another way to know if you don't have a thermometer, just take a small piece out. If it easily shreds and breaks up, and here I'm just using a butter knife and you can see that it does, we know we're at the perfect stage. Let's take all the beef out and set it to the side. Yes, I know there are some procedures for this recipe, but I promise you it is worth it. And of course, don't forget to remove that bouquet garni. Now, in that same pot, we're gonna add the carrots, the onions, the mushrooms, and the crispy pork lardons right to that leftover braising liquid. We are gonna crank the heat up to medium and cook it down for about 20 to 25 minutes or until it's reduced by about one third. This will help concentrate the flavor of our overall sauce. And while we're waiting for this to cook down, here's how it became famous. The recipe was first introduced in Escoffier's Les Guides Culinaires in 1903. Now, while it was an incredibly delicious meal during this time period, it was really only known in France. It wasn't until the famous TV celebrity chef, Julia Child, introduced it in her very first episode of her hit cooking show in 1963 did the dish become world renowned. From there, it became an instant classic. All right, one more quick thing before we finish this off. I'm going to make a beurre manié, which is a thickening agent. I like this more than slurry. I like this more than a roux. I've got one stick of softened unsalted butter and eight tablespoons of all-purpose flour. We are gonna knead this together with our hands until combined. After all, beurre manié translates to kneaded butter. Yes, you will have some beurre manié left over. Let's head back over to that pot, and I just can't even tell you how good your house is going to smell. It will literally make you want to start drinking straight from this pot. You can see the sauce is reduced, the carrots are tender. We're at that perfect stage to wrap everything up. I'm going to add in about a quarter to a third cup of that beurre manié, and I'm going to mix everything together until combined. You'll almost immediately notice that the sauce's viscosity becomes much thicker. Yep, we're there. Before we add the beef back in there, we're just going to adjust any seasonings it may need with coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Then we're gonna finish it off with my favorite, two tablespoons of unsalted butter, and just a very small hint of lemon juice, maybe one to two teaspoons. We just want this to gently hit us in the cheeks. All right, let's add the beef back to the pot, combine everything together, and oh my gosh, I can't wait to get into this. Now, there are many ways to serve this up, including by itself or with some incredible creamy mashed potatoes. I've got a great recipe you can check out, or you can even serve it up with some fresh or dried pasta tossed in a little bit of melted unsalted butter, or for me, I like peeled and eight-minute-boiled, butter-coated baby potatoes finished off with a little salt, pepper, and freshly chopped parsley. And now, to plate this up, we're gonna add the beef, the carrots, the onion, the mushroom, the pork, right to a plate with a few of those buttered baby potatoes. I'm gonna drizzle on a good amount of that Bouffe Bourguignon gravy without trying to drink most of it. Yeah, it's that good. Garnish with a little bit of freshly chopped parsley, and if you wanna mop all that sauce up at the end, hit it with a little French baguette. And let's go. It's just a fantastic meal to serve up on the weekends to family or friends, or hey, try serving this up during the holiday season. You won't regret it. Now, if you want a scaled-back version of this but still want all the flavors, check out my pot roast recipe video. It will make you famous. Yeah, it's that good. I'll see you on there. Already, as soon as it hits.