Boeuf (beef) bourguignon
Bœuf bourguignon is a traditional recipe of French cuisine (bourguignon means from Burgundy). It's chunks of meat cooked slowly with bacon, onions, carrots and mushrooms in red wine.
352,446 34.3/5 for 60 ratings
Last modified on: February 21th 2011
For 6 people, you will need:
250 g smoked pork belly (or thick cut streaky bacon)
1 
3 tablespoons 
1 tablespoon 
1 
3 
1 tablespoon 
How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
| Preparation | Cooking | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour 5 min. | 3 hours 15 min. | 4 hours 20 min. |
At what time?
- When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 15 min.
Cut 800 g beef in pieces, remove and dispose everything that is not good meat (skin, nerve, strong parts), it's the main secret of boeuf bourgignon: a perfect meat at the beginning.
Stage 2 - 5 min.
Cut 250 g smoked pork belly (or thick cut streaky bacon) in small pieces.
Stage 4 - 2 min.
In a big pan on medium fire, pour 3 tablespoons oil, when hot add grinded onion and bacon, mix well, pepper and some salt.
Stage 5 - 4 min.
Make cook for about 3 or 4 minutes, then remove pan from fire and with a skimmer put mixture in a plate, leave only some fat in the pan.
Stage 6 - 1 min.
Put back pan on lively fire, add meat pieces...
Stage 7 - 8 min.
...and make brown on each sides.
Stage 8 - 1 min.
Stage 9 - 2 min.
Add onion mix, stir again.
Stage 10 - 1 min.
Add 750 ml red wine.
Stage 11 - 30 min.
Stir well, scratch bottom pan to deglaze, then add 1 Bouquet garni, salt and pepper.
Reduce fire to slow, and let cook for 30 minutes.
If you get foam on top during this time, skim it and dispose.
Reduce fire to slow, and let cook for 30 minutes.
If you get foam on top during this time, skim it and dispose.
Stage 12 - 5 min.
During this time, peel, wash and cut 3 carrots in pieces.
Stage 13 - 2 hours
Add them in the pan, and let cook uncovered for at least 2 hours.
Stage 14 - 25 min.
During this time, peel, wash and make cook 1 kg potatoes in water.
Stage 15 - 10 min.
During this time, peel and slice 250 g mushrooms.
Stage 16 - 1 min.
Add mushrooms in the pan about 30 minutes before serving.
Stage 17 - 5 min.
You can brown potatoes in a frying pan with 1 tbs of oil, not absolutely needed, but in my opinion much better.
Stage 18 - 5 min.
Preparing sauce:
Put everything solid from pan in a strainer on another pan.
Dispose bouquet garni.
Your goal is to have have only liquid part in the pan, and all solid part in another.
Put everything solid from pan in a strainer on another pan.
Dispose bouquet garni.
Your goal is to have have only liquid part in the pan, and all solid part in another.
Stage 19 - 5 min.
Put back pan with liquid on medium fire, when boiling add 1 tablespoon cornflour mixed with some cold water.
Whip strongly to thicken sauce, then taste to check seasoning.
Whip strongly to thicken sauce, then taste to check seasoning.
Stage 20 - 10 min.
Put back meat and vegetables in the smooth and tasty sauce, slow fire, and let stay until service time.
Stage 21
Heat plates and serve with potatoes.
Remarks
Bœuf Bourguignon is one of those dishes that get better each time they are reheated, so don't hesitate to make a lot in one go and then reheat it several times.
For the wine, it should be ideally a red Burgundy made from pinot noir grapes, but if you can't get one from this area at a reasonable price, try to get another pinot noir if possible.
If you have a good butcher, ask his advice about suitable cuts of beef for bourguignon, otherwise remember you don't need an expensive cut like steak, but preferably a cheaper cut suited to long slow cooking (such as stewing steak).
If one day you eat bœuf bourguignon in a restaurant and you get served meat that is tough with skin or gristle, you are in a bad place with a bad chef: leave without even having a dessert or coffee (the bill will certainly be bad news too!).
Years ago it was usual to thicken the sauce with a "roux" (mix of cooked butter and flour), it's efficient but unfortunately it dulls the flavour of the sauce. Bernard Loiseau the famous French chef, in his day, suggested replacing the roux with a little carrot purée, but cornflour also works well.
For the wine, it should be ideally a red Burgundy made from pinot noir grapes, but if you can't get one from this area at a reasonable price, try to get another pinot noir if possible.
If you have a good butcher, ask his advice about suitable cuts of beef for bourguignon, otherwise remember you don't need an expensive cut like steak, but preferably a cheaper cut suited to long slow cooking (such as stewing steak).
If one day you eat bœuf bourguignon in a restaurant and you get served meat that is tough with skin or gristle, you are in a bad place with a bad chef: leave without even having a dessert or coffee (the bill will certainly be bad news too!).
Years ago it was usual to thicken the sauce with a "roux" (mix of cooked butter and flour), it's efficient but unfortunately it dulls the flavour of the sauce. Bernard Loiseau the famous French chef, in his day, suggested replacing the roux with a little carrot purée, but cornflour also works well.
Nutritional information
How much will it cost?
- For 6 people : 16.28 €
- Per person : 2.71 €
And to drink?: The same wine you use in the recipe, ideally a bourgogne pinot noir.
Source
Home made, after Ginette Mathiot.More recipes?
This recipe uses (among others) | Potatoes: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Express sauerkraut, Normandy seafood stew, Real home-made chips* , Hotpot my grandmother's way , Morteau sausage, ... All |
 | Beef : You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Upside-down Parmentier, Beef braised in reduced red wine, Roast beef "like they do it in Santa Fe", Melt-in-the mouth meat and vegetables in a sealed casserole, Tournedos Rossini, ... All |
 | Red wine: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Eggs meurette, Strawberries in a thyme and lemon-flavoured red wine reduction, Roscoff loaf, Winemaker's toast, Pears in red wine with blackcurrant , ... All |
 | Mushrooms: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Sliced chicken with mushrooms and broccoli, Vol-au-vent, Rabbit civet "à la normande", Coq au vin, Mushroom velouté, ... All |
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2019-09-22)
Note: We'll never share your email with anyone else.
Follow this recipe (as 4 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.Note: We'll never share your email with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.
Your 3 comments or questions on this recipe
Post your comment or question
You are welcome, if you wish, to comment on this recipe: why you like it or not, what you have changed, what results it gave, point out a mistake or omission, etc. You can also ask a question. I answer all questions (in a broken English, sorry) unless someone else does it before me.
Please feel free to say what you think, I'm always very interested in your opinion. Your comment will appear on line with the recipe, so please write in standard readable English, not SIM or only in CAPITALS, otherwise your comment may be rejected.
Please look at advice for submitting a comment or image (what you should or should not do). By the way, don't type your e-mail address in the comment, otherwise you might be spammed.