Drunken Beef Stew

Comfort food meets sophistication in this dish, formally called Beef Bourguigon.  I have dubbed it Drunken Beef Stew, because it calls for a full bottle of red wine and 1/2 cup of cognac. This turned out to be a great make ahead option….

resulting in a nice relaxed meal on Christmas day. Last year we decided to make Paella (the rice, sausage and seafood dish) with the thinking that it would be easy, because it’s a one dish meal (at least when it finally comes together.) It actually turned out to be a ton of effort, so I had to rethink the game plan for this year.  By making this stew a day ahead, I only had to rewarm it in the oven before serving. This not only made for a much easier meal, but actually deepened the savory, rich flavor as well. Serve this stew over mashed potatoes and pair it with a salad and some crusty bread, and you have a satisfying meal that comes together in a cinch.

If you’re not familiar with Bourguigon, it’s a style that originated in the Burgundy region of France, which means to cook in a red wine sauce with mushrooms and small whole onions. I prefer to use coarsely chopped sweet onion vs. small whole onions, but either way, you can’t go wrong with this delicious beef stew recipe.

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Beef Bourguignon (Drunken Beef Stew)

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Servings: 8

Author: Adapted from Bon Appetit May 1994 issue.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces bacon coarsely chopped
• 3 pounds well trimmed boneless beef chuck from a 7 pound chuck roast – yes it does take this much meat to yield the trimmed amount, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 1/4 pound boiling onions or a large or 2 medium sweet onions chopped coarsely
• 3/4 pound large carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1/2 Cognac or brandy
• 1 bottle 750 ml red Burgundy wine
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 1/4 pound sliced mushrooms
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh thyme or 2 tablespoons dried I highly recommend using fresh
• coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sauté bacon in a heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until brown and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels. Leave bacon grease in pan for browning the beef.
• Season beef generously with salt and pepper, coat with 1/3 cup flour, using all flour. Working in batches brown beef in same pot over high heat, about 5 minutes per batch (don’t overcrowd pan or beef will braise vs. brown. I split the meat into 4 separate batches.) Transfer meat to a large bowl. Add onions and carrots to same pot and sauté until light brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Transfer vegetables to bowl with beef.
• Add 1 cup of broth and Cognac to pot and boil until reduced to a glaze, scraping up browned bits, about 8 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and brown sugar.
• Return meat and vegetables and their juices to pot. Add wine, bacon, mushrooms and thyme and 2 cups of beef broth. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Cover pot and bake until beef is tender, about 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
• Note – I baked the stewed initially for 1 1/2 hours and then refrigerated (after cooling uncovered on stove top.) Before serving, I skimmed the fat off the top and let the stew sit on the counter for 1 hour. Then I placed in a 325 degree oven, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve over a nice creamy batch of mashed potatoes.