by David Maciel
Sponsored by Ray’s Food Place, Furber Plaza
In February we celebrate Valentine’s Day, the day of romance and love. And what better way than this French dish beef bourguignon for two. Simply put beef slow simmered in red wine. I serve this with mashed potatoes. It’s a warm comfort food recipe that’s sure to impress.
Ingredients
• 3 oz bacon (3 slices), chopped
• ½ pound beef stew meat
• 1 carrot, sliced into 1” chunks
• ½ red onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup red wine
• ¾ cup beef broth
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• salt, as you go
• freshly cracked black pepper, as you go
• 6 ounces baby onions (~1 dozen)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup beef broth, additional
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 thyme sprig
• 12 button mushrooms, quartered
• ½ tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a 2-quart cast iron braising pot, add the chopped bacon. Turn the heat to medium, and cook the bacon while occasionally stirring until it’s no longer pink and is starting to crisp up. Remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the bacon grease in the pan. Set it aside.
- Generously sprinkle salt and pepper over the beef chunks, and then add them to the pan you just removed the bacon from. Sear the beef on all sided until golden brown (but don’t worry about cooking it through).
- Add the sliced carrot and red onion to the pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and meat, cook for 1 minute while stirring.
- Add the wine, beef broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, tomato paste, and garlic clove to the pan. Add back the bacon pieces and a final big pinch of salt and pepper.
- Place the lid on the pot, and move it to the oven. Cook for 2 hours, stirring after one hour.
- About an hour before the time goes off, peel the onions and slice off the root ends.
- Place the whole onions in a skillet with the butter and olive oil. Turn the heat to medium-high, and sear the onions until they start to caramelize in a few places, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the beef broth, bay leaf, thyme sprig, and a big pinch of salt and pepper to the skillet. Lower the heat to medium-low, and cook until the beef broth reduces to a syrupy liquid, and the onions are meltingly soft.
- Pour the onion mixture into a bowl.
- Without wiping out the pan, add the mushrooms, olive oil and butter. Turn the heat to medium, and cook until the mushrooms are starting to caramelize around the edges, about 7-8 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the pan, and add them to the onions.
- When the beef is done cooking in the oven, remove the lid to stir in the onions and mushrooms.
