Recipes
French Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients
4 lbs. chuck beef stew meat, cut in 1 to 2 inch pieces
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 oz. bacon, cut into ¼ inch pieces
3 T. unsalted butter
1 lb. cremini mushrooms cut into 1 inch pieces
1 ½ cups frozen pearl onions, defrosted
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups low sodium beef broth
1 (750 ml) bottle of Burgundy or Pinot Noir wine
5 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 T. tomato paste
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 onions, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, scrubbed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 whole garlic head, cloves peeled and crushed
2 Bay leaves
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
10 sprigs of fresh parsley, plus 3 T. of minced parsley
6 sprigs of thyme
Directions
1. Toss beef and 1 ½ teaspoons salt in a bowl, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Adjust oven racks to middle position and lowest position. Heat oven to 500 degrees F.
3. Place bacon and 2T butter in large roasting pan. Roast on middle rack until browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Toss mushrooms, pearl onions, 1 T. of butter, and sugar in rimmed baking sheet. Place baking sheet on lowest rack. Stir vegetables occasionally until moisture is released from mushrooms and the onions have a slight brown color, about 20 minutes. When done, remove from oven and place in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
5. Remove roasting pan with bacon from oven, lower oven temperature to 325 degrees. Sprinkle flour over rendered bacon, whisk until there is no dry flour or lumps. Whisk in broth, 2 cups of wine, gelatin, tomato paste, anchovy paste until combined. Add to roasting pan- coarsely chopped onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, mushrooms, parsley sprigs, and thyme sprigs. Arrange beef in a single layer over vegetables. Add water as needed to come 3/4 up the side of the beef. Place roasting pan in oven and cook beef until tender – about 3 to 3 ½ hours. Stir beef and vegetables in about 90 minutes after placing in the oven. Add water if necessary to keep meat half-submerged.
6. After mixture is cooked, remove beef with slotted spoon and transfer it to the bowl with pearl onions and mushrooms. Cover and set aside. Strain braising liquid through a fine mesh strainer, set over large bowl. Press solids to remove as much liquid as possible, discard solids. Stir in remaining wine; let cooking liquid settle for 10 minutes. Skim fat off liquid with a spoon.
7. Transfer liquid to a Dutch oven and bring to a simmer on medium high heat. Simmer briskly, stirring occasionally until liquid has the consistency of heavy cream, about 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add beef and vegetable mixture, cover. Cook until heated, about 5 minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Add minced parsley.
8. Serve on egg noodles.
Serves 12
(Modified from The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook by Jerry Levine; Nutrient Analysis by Marcia Richards MEd RD MCHES)
Per 4 oz. serving: 300 calories, 9 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 30 grams protein, 320 mg. sodium
Good source of protein, vitamins B6, B12, niacin, & iron