Beef Bourguignon is the perfect winter warmer dish. Made with shin of beef, comforting, slow cooked and full of flavour.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 750 ml of dry (fruity) red wine such as Burgundy or Tempranillo
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 large carrot, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- Handful of parsley, chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 35 g butter
- 200 g unsmoked salt pork or bacon, cut into lardons
- 12 small shallots
- 18 baby carrots
- 200 g button mushrooms
- 2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1 kg Beef shin or chuck steak, cut into generous chunks
- 400 g oxtail
- 60 ml brandy
- 250 ml beef stock
Directions
- The first job is to prepare the wine – do this by reducing with the roughly chopped onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and half the parsley – simmer until reduced by half its original volume (25 – 35 mins but keep an eye on it).
- Set your oven to 150°C/Fan 130°C/Gas mark 2/300°F.
- Heat the oil and butter in a large casserole pot over a medium-high heat, and when the foam has died down, add the bacon. Fry until just starting to brown on the edges, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. This will have the added benefit of rendering some of the fat from the bacon.
- Add the bay carrots and mushrooms to the pan and saute until lightly golden, then scoop into a fresh bowl. Add the onions, turn down the heat slightly, and fry until just beginning to brown.
- Dust the beef with the seasoned flour whilst the onions are cooking. Add the onions to the other vegetables and turn up the heat slightly in the pan. Brown the beef .
- Fry the beef (including the oxtail) in (small amounts, so it doesn’t boil in its own juice!) batches until it has a good brown crust, adding extra oil if necessary (it should fry not burn). Removed as you go and put aside in a bowl. Then turn up the heat.
- Deglaze the pan with the brandy scraping any tasty bits that have stuck on the bottom. Add the reduced wine (veg removed and put in the compost – good news for the worms!) and the beef stock. Return the beef shin and oxtail to the pan and bring to a simmer.
- Cover and bake for two and a half hours, then tip in the pearl onions, mushrooms and carrots and bake for another half an hour.
- Scoop out the oxtail and strip the meat from the bones. Stir back into the pan with the lardons and season to taste. Then let it cool and refrigerate overnight. Re heat to a simmer before serving and add the remaining parsley. Serve with mash and a big pile of green veg.
