Beef Bourguignon is a traditional French recipe. It's a stew made with meat cooked slowly in red wine. It was originated in the Burgundy region in France and is as popular as coq-au-vin (chicken cooked in wine). It's rare to find someone who doesn't like Beef Bourguignon and my college style recipe is the easiest version you can find. Actually if you are not very experienced in the kitchen it may be a good first recipe to make this delicious French dish.
If you are not sure about how to pronounce Beef Bourguignon then click HERE to hear a French guy say Beuf Bourguignon. Now go ahead and say it like a French - Beuf Bourguingnon - doesn't it sound so sophisticated?
When you cook meat slowly in a liquid it's called braising, so Beef Bourguignon is actually braising beef in wine. Cooking with wine gives meat a rich, delicious, and unique flavor and braising allows you to use cuts of meat that are not very tender and consequently less expensive. Every market sells trays of 'beef for stew' with pre-cut pieces of beef in a tray. If you use a more expensive cut with more marbling, (those white lines of fat), then decrease the cooking time in half or the meat will dissolve in the pan.
This Beef Bourguignon recipe is ideal for people who don't have much time or patience to prep ingredients for a recipe as it uses packaged stuff. After making this recipe once, I bet you will feel like trying a more elaborate recipe, which I will post later. But don't worry the other recipe is not really complicated.
As Beef Bourguignon is from the Bourgogne region in France the traditional wine to use is a Bourgundy wine, however you can use any dry red wine, specially the Pinot Noir because this is the grape used to make Burgundy red wines.
What You Need
- 2 lbs 'beef for stew' or sirloin (pot roast) cut into cubes.
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1 cup water
- 1 cube meat bouillon
- 1 packet onion soup
- 1 can mushroom soup
- 1 tbsp dry parsley
- 1 cup baby carrots chopped (cut each baby carrot into 4 pieces - if you are really
lazybusy just cut them in half) - Salt and Pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper)
What To Do
Melt the butter in a large pan over high heat. Careful not to burn the butter, which is easy because you are using high heat.
As soon as the butter gets golden add the unseasoned meat.
Distribute the meat evenly in the pan.
Fry until the meat is mostly cooked outside. You have to stir so you all sides of the meat get browned.
After most of the meat is browned (you can still have a few red patches) add the wine, water, beef bouillon, onion soup, mushroom soup, and parsley. Add salt and pepper.
Stir well to make sure all is well dissolved and blended. The mushroom soup needs to be completely dissolved.
Let it boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and let it cook for one hour.
BUT you need to stir after 30 minutes, so use whatever devise you're addicted to and set the timer for 30 minutes. Don't forget to press the start button as I did before.
After the 30 minutes stir and let if cook for 30 more minutes. Set up your devise again.
Now the meat has cooked for 1 hour and it's time to add the carrots, stir well, and let it cook for 30 more minutes. Don't forget to set up your timer again.
Before you eat check if it needs more salt and pepper.
Serve with rice, noodles or potatoes
Bon Appétit!
