Bless Her Heart

So, my goal with this series of posts has been to identify 31 different “comfort foods” that I personally would serve if I were to open a “meat and three” restaurant.

After all, opening a “meat and three” restaurant in an old warehouse back in my hometown seems so inviting when DFW traffic and Texas summers start making life miserable.

Today was another hot June day, but I found myself making beef stew for dinner.

Seems like several of the recipes that I have, or have wanted to, share have been stew or roast recipes.

But for good reason.

Soups and stews are the ultimate comfort food.

Beef Burgundy is made with chuck roast, carrots, mushrooms, pearl onions and an entire bottle of red wine…at least the wine that remains after you’ve gotten to the point of adding it to your recipe.

Beef Burgundy – a French dish made with tender, fall-apart chunks of beef, bacon, carrots, onions and mushrooms all simmered together in in a rich red wine sauce –is considered by many to be the mother of all stews,

I guess this makes it the mother of all comfort food also, right?!

Julia Child made her Beef Bourguignon a classic recipe loved by many around the world after first publishing it in her best-selling cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

And it is an incredible family dinner that can be cooked in several methods – Instant Pot, pressure cookers, slow cooker, stove top and the traditional oven.

Bon appetit!!!

Beef: Brisket, chuck steak and stew meat can all be used to make Beef Burgundy.

You can use whichever stewing meat you want, but your best bet is a a fatty, tough cut of meat – such as a brisket, chuck, short ribs or sirloin.

Choose a single piece of beef that you can slice up yourself. I like to use either a brisket or a chuck roast. In fact, I almost always order a chuck roast for any “stew” recipes like this one.

Do not buy pre-cut cubes that are not smaller than 2”. If your pre-cut pieces are too small, the meat will finish cooking before the sauce reaches its full flavor potential.

Traditional beef burgundy is also made with pancetta. This gives the braising liquid a rich, fatty flavor.If you cannot find pancetta, simply use bacon.

Pinot noir: Pinot Noir is the most famous variety of wine produced in the Burgundy region of France.

This is a red wine…(go figure, we are cooking with beef)…

And this wine is ideal for using as a marinade because it doesn’t overwhelm the beef.

Although Julia Child recommends a good quality burgundy for making Beef Burgundy, there’s no reason to waste money buying expensive wine to make this dish. Even the cheapest wine found in the discount bins at your local liquor store will work in this recipe.

If you don’t feel comfortable cooking with wine…(bless your heart)…then simply use only two cups of wine and then use three cups of stock…(assuming that you are making this in your oven or on your stovetop)…

You could also forego the wine altogether and simply use beef stock, but that kinda defeats the purpose of making Beef Burgundy, right…

Beef stock: Rumor has it that homemade beef broth or broth purchased from your local butcher(?!) would make the finished stew taste better, but I’ve been cooking for about forty years and have never even tried these two types of broth. Do like almost everyone else reading this post, and simply grab your fave mass-produced brand of pre-packaged.

Onions: Small pearl onions are traditionally used in Beef Burgundy. These onions are about 1” in diameter, but you could just use slices of a normal onion instead.

Pancetta or Bacon:  Bacon is a key ingredient in making the sauce seasoning, so don’t leave it out.

• 3# beef brisket or a 4# boneless chuck roast, cut into 1½” cubes 
• 3C pinot noir or other red wine
• 3C beef broth 
• 1 onion, chopped…or 14.4oz bag frozen pearl onions
• 8 slices bacon, cut into ½” pieces
• 3Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced about ½” thick
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1tsp salt
• 1½tsp pepper
• ¼C flour
• 2Tbsp tomato paste
• 1tsp Italian seasoning
• 2Tbsp parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 1# mushrooms
• 2Tbsp butter
• 1 stalk celery, chopped

Marinate (optional, but highly recommended); Marinate meat for 24 hours in the red wine, onion, carrot, thyme and bay leaves.

Prep: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Heat 1Tbsp oil in pan.

Cook the bacon: Add the bacon to the skillet. Sauté seven minutes, until crisp and browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon onto a paper-towel-lined plate. Drain off all but 2Tbsp bacon fat. Add a bit of extra oil if needed,

Cook the onion and celery: Separate the marinated meat from the carrots, celery  and onions. Add the carrots, celery and onions to the Dutch oven, Cook for five minutes, until the vegetables are tender and golden, Add to bowl with mushrooms.

Brown the meat: Pat the beef dry. Season with 1½tsp salt and 1tsp of pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high. Brown the beef, in batches, on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Remove the meat to a plate set aside.

Finish the gravy: Stir in the tomato paste, flour, garlic, ½tsp salt and ½tsp pepper. Cook for two minutes.

Add the meat: Return the beef and half of the bacon to the pot.

Pour in the wine: Slowly add the wine and enough stock so that the meat is barely covered. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil. Then add the tomato paste and herbs. Bring to a simmer on the stove.

Bake: Cover. Place in the oven. Cook for two hours, until the beef is tender,

Sauté mushrooms: Add mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, until golden. Remove from heat.

Finish and serve: At this point, you should have about 2½C sauce that is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If your sauce is too thick, add a few tablespoons of stock at a time to thin it out. If your sauce is too thin, boil it over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until reduced to the right consistency.

Skim off any excess fat from the top of the stew. Stir in the sautéed mushrooms. Taste for salt.

Let it rest for 15 minutes so that the flavors begin to settle into each other.

Serve the stew over mashed potatoes, topped with the remaining bacon.

To make in the slow cooker (or crockpot): I prefer to make any type of stew in the oven or on the top of the stove. I think that the meat cooks better. It also seems like it takes less time out of your daily routine…not to mention the fact that you’ll only have to wash one cooking pan instead of two.

If you are bound and determined to make this in your “slow cooker” anyway, then stir everything together except for the mushrooms and onions. Cook four hours on low, Add mushrooms and onion. Cook another four hours.

Transfer to Dutch oven. Simmer twenty minutes.

Let it rest for 15 minutes and the flavours begin to settle into each other.

To store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days. Reheat over low heat on the stove or in the microwave.

And always remember what your momma taught you (or forgot to teach you or you refused to hear)…

It will taste better tomorrow…