Beef Bourguignonne A La White House Recipes

BOEUF A LA BOURGUIGNON

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the red wine, beef stock, brandy, onion, carrots, garlic, parsley sprigs, thyme, rosemary, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, and bay leaf and stir well. Add the beef and stir. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
• Drain the beef and reserve the marinade and vegetables separately. Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Set the beef and vegetables aside.
• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Remove the outer rind of the slab bacon. Cut the bacon into lardons: 1 inch long strips about 1/4- inch thick. In a small saucepan, cover the lardons and the rind with cold water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain the lardons and rind, pat them dry, and reserve both.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the lardons and cook, stirring, until crisp and their fat has rendered. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the lardons to paper towels to drain.
• Season the beef with salt and pepper, dredge in the flour, and shake off any excess.
• Raise the heat to high and, working in batches, brown the beef. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat and return to high heat. Add the reserved vegetable mixture and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, about 5 minutes.
• Return all of the browned beef to the pot. Add the reserved marinade liquid, and reserved bacon rind. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the stew to the oven and cook, covered, until the beef is very tender, about 3 hours.
• Remove the stew from the oven. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a plate. Strain the liquid and discard the solids. Return the beef and strained broth to the Dutch oven with the lardons.
• Put the pearl onions in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter and the sugar. Cover the onions with water and season with salt and pepper. Simmer the onions over medium-high heat until almost tender. Raise heat to high, and reduce the cooking liquid to about 2 tablespoons. Continue to cook the onions, shaking the pan over the heat, until the onions are golden brown and glazed. Transfer the onions to the stew.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in another skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook the mushrooms, tossing often, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to the stew.
• In a small bowl, cream together the tablespoon of softened butter with the tablespoon of flour. Roll the mixture into pea-sized pieces.
• Bring the stew to a simmer and, while stirring gently, add enough beurre manie, bit by bit, to lightly thicken the sauce.
• Divide the stew among 6 shallow soup plates and garnish each with a crouton. Serve immediately with pasta or boiled potatoes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush both sides of the bread with the butter and arrange them on a baking sheet. Bake the croutons until golden brown. Dip the edges of the bread in the stew to moisten; then in parsley to lightly coat the edges.
• Yield: 6 croutons

CLASSIC FRENCH BEEF BOURGUIGNON

Steps:

• Step 1 - About 2 hours before cooking, pat the beef cubes dry with paper towels and season them well with salt and black pepper. Let rest to near room temperature.
• Step 2 - On the stove top over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a Dutch-oven. Add the bacon strips and cook for about 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fully cooked and lightly crisp. Set aside, leaving the fat drippings in the Dutch-Oven.
• Pre-heat your oven to 325°F ( 163°C) with a rack in the middle.
• Step 3 - Working in batches, add the beef cubes to the Dutch-oven and brown them, about 3 minutes on each side. Be careful not to overcrowd or overlap any meat cubes or they won't brown properly. It should take about 3 to 4 batches to brown 2 ½ lbs of beef. Transfer the browned beef to a separate bowl or plate.
• Step 4 - Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the Dutch-oven and add the garlic, carrots, pearl onions, thyme and bay leaves. Cook for 6-7 minutes, until the onions are glistening.
• Step 5 - Add the beef and bacon back in the Dutch-oven. Add the tomato paste and sprinkle with the flour. Stir all the ingredients until no dry flour is visible. Pour in the red wine, brandy and beef stock so the meat is barely covered. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes in the oven.
• While the stew cooks in the oven - Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, season to taste with salt and black pepper, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked and lightly browned.
• Take the Beef Bourguignon out of the oven and stir in the mushrooms. Return the pot to the oven for 30 more minutes. Take the Beef Bourguignon out of the oven, adjust seasoning if needed (salt, pepper). Let the Beef Bourguignon sit for 15 minutes before serving.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or heavy based pot. Sauté the bacon over medium heat for about 3 minutes, until crisp and browned. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large dish and set aside.
• Pat dry beef with paper towel; sear in batches in the hot oil/bacon fat until browned on all sides. Remove to the dish with the bacon.
• In the remaining oil/bacon fat, sauté the carrots and diced onions until softened, (about 3 minutes), then add 4 cloves minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Drain excess fat (leave about 1 tablespoon in the pan) and return the bacon and beef back into the pot; season with 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper. Sprinkle with flour, toss well and cook for 4-5 minutes to brown.
• Add the pearl onions, wine and enough stock so that the meat is barely covered. Then add the tomato paste, bullion and herbs. Bring to a simmer on the stove.
• Cover, transfer to lower part of the oven and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, or until the meat is fall apart tender (adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly).
• In the last 5 minutes of cooking time, prepare your mushrooms:Heat the butter in a medium-sized skillet/pan over heat. When the foam subsides, add the remaining 2 cloves garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds), then add in the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, while shaking the pan occasionally to coat with the butter. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Once they are browned, set aside.
• Place a colander over a large pot (I do this in my clean kitchen sink). Remove the casserole from the oven and carefully empty its contents into the colander (you want to collect the sauce only). Discard the herbs
• Return the beef mixture back into the dutch oven or pot. Add the mushrooms over the meat.
• Remove any fat off the sauce( if any) and simmer for a minute or two, skimming off any additional fat which rises to the surface.
• You should be left with about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat the back of a spoon lightly. If the sauce is too thick, add a few tablespoons of stock. If the sauce is too thin, boil it over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until reduced to the right consistency.
• Taste for seasoning and adjust salt and pepper, if desired. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.
• If you are serving immediately, simmer the beef bourguignon for 2 to 3 minutes to heat through.Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.
• To serve the following day, allow the casserole to cool completely, cover and refrigerate.The day of serving, remove from refrigerator for at least an hour before reheating. Place over medium-low heat and let simmer gently for about 10 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON I

Steps:

• For marinade: In a large bowl, combine the wine, cognac, onions, carrots, parsley, bay leaf, garlic, peppercorns and salt. Mix well and add the cubed beef. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 days.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• For Bourguignon: Strain the meat from the vegetables and marinade; reserve marinade. Dry meat with paper towels. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meat and saute for 10 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Transfer meat to a separate medium bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• In the same skillet, add the bacon and saute until lightly browned. Transfer the bacon to the bowl with the meat. Drain the skillet and return it to the heat. Pour a cup of marinade into the skillet to deglaze the skillet, scraping the bottom to loosen up all the little bits. Return this liquid to the reserved marinade.
• Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Add the onion and carrot from the marinade, along with the additional onion that you've chopped, and saute for 5 minutes, or until tender. Transfer this mixture to the bowl with the meat and bacon, again using a slotted spoon, and return skillet to the heat. Add the flour to the skillet, combining with the oil and stir until well mixed and brown, about 2 minutes.
• Now add the tomato paste, garlic, beef broth, reserved marinade and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and whisk to remove any flour lumps. Add this to the meat and vegetable mixture. Place entire mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
• Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 3 hours, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• About 15 minutes before meat is done baking, melt butter in the skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. When meat is done, add the mushrooms to the meat mixture, stir well and let sit for about 15 minutes.

BEEF BOURGUIGNONNE A LA WHITE HOUSE

Steps:

• Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a deep casserole. Add the beef cubes. Cover and braise in hot oven, (400°F) for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, sauté mushroom caps and shallots in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in flour. Add burgundy and mix well. Pour over beef; cover and return to oven for 30 more minutes. Author's note: I like to add baby red potatoes, baby carrots with 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.