Boeuf Bourguignon à la Bordelaise

Autumn & Winter | Slow Cooked | Freezable | Ideal for cooking in advance

Before you start,

  • If changing the portions, count ~250G of meat per person. 
  • Requires some efforts and more time 
  • Preparation : 25min
  • Cooking : 2-4 hours
  • Can rest all night or be served immediately. 

 

My favorite dish of all time. You can never go wrong with a Boeuf Bourguignon, even it you let it burns (which I will admit happened a few times...) it always taste incredible. Choose your red wine with care as it makes a huge difference between a good or exceptional dish! This is a family recipe that my Mum and I always cooked together; we would start cooking early in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day complaining about feeling hungry because it smelled so good in the house! We have served this dish many times to our friends and family in England and it is always a hit - Gaelle 

La Bourgogne. A part of France that is not necessarly well-known despite some beautiful landscapes and a very peaceful way of life. There is potentially a few products from Bourgogne that you might have in your cupboard at home; the famous Dijon Mustard, some bottles of red wine or even cornichons. For me as a French native, I cherish memories of my childhood with my parents, eating the Anis de Flavigny that we would buy on the highway whenever we traveled somewhere. It was a proper holiday treat. Another famous dish from Bourgogne are the snails 'Escargots de Bourgnone' and before you ask me, yes I tried, and no I did not like it!! The taste was okay, the texture however... 

Back to our recipe.

Ingredients: 

This recipe would be ideal for 6.
However it is easily adapted for more (Count approx. 250G of meat per person). I usually double the portions as we love leftovers. 

  • 1.5KG of diced beef 
  • 1 bottle of red wine (traditionally red Burgundy such as a Pinot Noir, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon) 
  • 1 or 2 Bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and rosemary tide together)
  • 60g of flour
  • Approx. small 4 Carrots
  • Approx. 6 medium Potatoes 
  • 250G of lardons 
  • 10-12 baby shallots, or 5-6 shallots cut in three 
  • 2-3 garlic cloves 
  • Salt, Pepper
  • 60G of butter (add less salt if using salted butter) 
  • Some water

Notes: 

  • If you want to do the traditional Boeuf Bourguignon (Instead of Bordelais), take off the potatoes and replace with mushrooms 
  • I usually cook from memory rather than following a recipe card, so it might be a good idea to adjust the ingredients portions based on your own taste and how flavoured you enjoy your food. 

 

Instructions: 

  1. Open your bottle of red wine, and pour a generous portion into a glass. Start drinking! 
  2. Season your beef with salt and pepper. Less is better, you can always adjust later. 
  3. Pre-cook your diced beef into a large saucepan with butter until it's brown on all sides. Medium to low heat. Careful not to overcook it; we want to keep it tender. This should take you 5 to 8 minutes depending on how much meat you have. Use this time to prepare your shallots and chopped your garlic. If using baby shallots, leave them full, otherwise if cut them in halves. 
  4. Take the beef out and let it rests in a plate. In the same saucepan, add your lardons and cook thoroughly. Add the shallots and cook for a bit longer, they're a delicate thing these tiny shallots so you might want to keep an eye on them. 
  5. Sprinkle your beef with the flour, this will help thicken the sauce later.
  6. Add the garlic to the pan, quickly followed by the beef. Well done for not burning the garlic, you did great! 
  7. Now is the time where I give an instruction that you shouldn't follow: add at least half of the bottle of wine into your pan (I think traditionally it's about 70cl... if you like tradition, add 70cl; but if you're a rebel like me, the whole bottle will do). If you have more than 2KG of meat, personnally, I would add the whole bottle, but that might just be me! Then add water, making sure that all the meat is covered.
  8. Add the bouquet garni. Let it boils and then slow cook for 1H30 - 2H00. 
  9. When the house smells incredible and you cannot wait any longer, slice your carrots (or cut in small cubes) and cut your potatoes the size of a thumb. Add them all to the dish. This is when you need to choose how much of it you want... I like more potatoes and carrots but my husband prefers when there is less, so we compromise and we have more! 
  10. Cover with more water or wine if needed, all the vegetables need to be covered. My husband usually add some beef stock at this time, I'd rather not. 
  11. Let it boils again. Carrots and potatoes will need about 45minutes to cook, but I like to cook them for at least one hour.  
  12. You can serve on the same day, or let it rests in the fridge for the nigth and serve the next day. Reheat in the pan at low temperature for about 15min. 

 

That's it! I hope you enjoy this recipe and as always with French cuisine, please play around with the ingredients, the quantity and the instructions.

Like my gran would say; 'You're your own Chef, you know better' 

Bon appetit!