The Melaniff Family Cookbook

Beef Bourguignon

Beef bourguignon is one of many examples of peasant dishes being slowly refined into haute cuisine. Most likely, the particular method of slowly simmering the beef in wine originated as a means of tenderizing cuts of meat that would have been too tough to cook any other way. Over time, the dish became a standard of French cuisine.

Ingredients

8 oz bacon, cubed

3 Lb beef, cubed

1/3 C flour

1 1/4 Lb onions, peeled

3/4 Lb carrots, cut into 1” pieces

12 garlic cloves, peeled

3 C beef broth

1/2 C cognac brandy

2 750 ml red burgundy wine

1 1/4 Lb mushrooms

1/3 C fresh thyme or 2 T dried

1 T brown sugar

1 T tomato paste

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 325ºF

Sauté bacon in heavy pot over high heat until crisp. Remove bacon.

Season beef with salt and pepper and coat with flour.

Working in three batches, brown beef. Transfer beef to a large bowl

Sauté onion and carrots until light brown, add garlic and sauté 1 minute.

Transfer vegetable to bowl with beef.

Add 1 cup of broth and cognac to pot, boil until reduced 10 times, scrapping bottom of the pot.

Return beef and vegetables to the pot, add wine, mushrooms, thyme, sugar, tomato and 2 cups broth.

Bring to a boil, cover pot, and place in oven for 1 1/2 hours.