Boeuf Bourguignon

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg beef chuck, in large cubes
• 150 g lardons or pancetta
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 carrots, in thick rounds
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 bottle dry red wine, ideally Burgundy
• 400 ml beef stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 300 g mushrooms, halved
• 30 g butter
• salt
• black pepper

Method

1. Render the lardons

   Cook the lardons in a heavy casserole until crisp, then lift them out and leave the fat behind.

   8 min

2. Brown the beef

   Pat the beef very dry and brown it hard in batches. Crowding the pan steams the meat and costs you the whole dish — take the time.

   15 min

3. Vegetables and flour

   Soften the onions, carrots and garlic in the same pot, then stir in the flour and cook it out for a minute or two.

   10 min

4. Deglaze and braise

   Pour in the wine and stock, add the tomato purée, thyme and bay, return the beef and lardons, and bring to a bare simmer.

5. Oven

   Cover and cook at 150°C for about three hours, until the beef gives way to a spoon.

   3 h

6. Mushrooms

   Near the end, fry the mushrooms in butter over high heat until browned, and stir them in. Cooking them separately keeps them from going grey and watery.

   8 min

7. Rest and season

   Season now, at the end. Better still, cool it and reheat the next day — it improves overnight.