Boeuf Bourguignon
8 servings
180 minutes
Recipe by Evgeny Utkin, chef of the Brasserie Most restaurant.
1
Cut the meat into pieces with a 3 cm rib. Both chilled and thawed meat can be used.
2
Melt finely chopped bacon in a pan. When the bacon melts, strain it and leave only the fat in the pan. Set aside the bacon remnants; we will need them later. It is very important to start melting the bacon in a cold pan.
- Bacon: 100 g
3
Add a bit of butter to the fat. It will help caramelize the meat better and give it a nice color. Once the fat mixture starts bubbling, you can add the meat. Place the pieces of meat in the pan so they have space and flip them once one side is seared. The goal is to achieve a golden crust rather than fully cook the meat. If there’s too much meat in the pan, it will release juices and start steaming or braising instead of frying. Fry over high heat while constantly turning the pieces. This way you can fry all pieces of beef in turn. You can also add some pepper while frying the meat. Of course, you can also use raw unseared meat and still make good beef bourguignon; however, frying gives beef its characteristic rich flavor and enhances the meaty aspect of the dish.
- Butter: 50 g
- Beef shoulder: 1.5 kg
4
Transfer the meat, roasted on all sides, to a cast iron or copper pot with thick bottom and walls, such as a kazan or a duck pan.
5
Chop the onion and carrot randomly. The cut style is not very important because after 3 hours in the oven, little texture will remain in the vegetables. However, do not cut too large: the smaller the product, the more flavor it releases. You don't need to worry about cutting neatly. Pour olive or regular vegetable oil into a deep saucepan. Sauté the carrot and onion over high heat. The carrot takes longer to fry than the onion, so start with it and add the onion after a couple of minutes. The goal is to fry everything very quickly but gently so that nothing burns: burnt parts can give bitterness and foreign aromas to the sauce. Add 20 grams of butter to the vegetables (it’s needed for a richer flavor). Keep on heat for a couple of minutes. Strain the vegetables if there is too much fat; excess fat is not needed in the sauce.
- Carrot: 200 g
- Onion: 200 g
- Olive oil: 50 ml
- Butter: 50 g
6
Evaporate the wine twice in a pot over high heat and add it to the vegetables.
- Red dry wine: 1 l
7
Add the vegetables and bacon left from the beginning of the process. Add coarsely chopped garlic after removing its green cores.
- Onion: 200 g
- Carrot: 200 g
- Bacon: 100 g
- Garlic: 40 g
8
Pour in 1.5 liters of saturated beef broth. This can be broth made from any parts of the carcass.
- Beef broth: 1.5 l
9
Add a bouquet garni. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bouquet garni: 1 bunch
10
Send the meat to an oven preheated to 160–180 degrees for 2.5–3 hours.
11
In three hours, the finished Burgundy meat will look like this. Taste it, add salt and pepper, and add sugar if needed. The thing is that wine can make the sauce too sour, and sugar will balance everything.
12
Traditionally, Burgundy-style beef is served with fried potatoes with mushrooms and caramelized shallots. Be sure to drizzle the meat and garnish with the sauce left at the bottom of the pot.