Recipes > Beef Bourguignon | Bœuf Bourguignon
Inspired by Julia Child, this fantastic beef bourguignon is best shared with friends.
Dawn Thomas
- Serves: 6 to 8
- Active Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
- Total Time: 8 hrs - 24 hrs
- Views: 134,397
- Success Rating: 89% (?)
Steps
Step 1: Preparing Your Mise en Place
- 2 medium onions
- 2 large carrots
- 7 oz slab of bacon (with rind)
- 3 lb beef chuck, cut into 2" -inch pieces
- 2 cloves garlic
Method
To prepare your mise en place, mince the garlic and then cut the onions into medium dice.
Peel the carrots. Quarter lengthwise and cut into 2" -inch pieces. Alternatively, you can dice the carrots into large dice.
Remove the rind from the bacon. Cut the bacon into lardons and set both aside.
Step 2: Blanching & Sautéing the Bacon
- 1 to 2 tsp grapeseed oil
Method
To blanch the bacon, bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Add the bacon rind and the lardons. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes to remove the excess salt and to render some of the fat.
Drain once done. Remove the rind and set aside for later. Pat the lardons dry with paper towels.
To fry the lardons, heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the oil and lardons. Fry for a few minutes until just starting to turn golden brown.
Once done, turn off the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the lardons. Drain on paper towels.
Preheat the oven to anywhere between 200° F to 350° F (or 95° C to 175° C). The temperature in which you cook the stew is up to you and how quickly you need to cook the stew. Just keep in mind, that the lower the heat and the slower the cooking process, the better the result.
Step 3: Preparing & Browning the Beef
- sea salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
To prepare the beef, it is important that the beef is very dry before cooking. Pat it dry with paper towels. You can even squeeze each piece of meat with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
Heat the Dutch oven again to medium-high heat (do not remove the rendered bacon fat from inside the pot). While the pan heats, lay the beef out and season all sides liberally with salt and pepper.
Once the Dutch oven has properly heated, sear or brown the beef on all sides. You will likely have to do this in batches, as you do not want to overcrowd the pan; otherwise, the meat will steam, rather than brown. It is also important that the sucs on the bottom of the pot don’t burn; so, add more oil as needed.
Once browned, remove the meat, place onto a plate and set aside. Leave any rendered fat in the pot.
Step 4: Cooking the Mirepoix
- sea salt, to taste
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup full-bodied red wine
Method
Add the onions to the Dutch oven. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and let brown. Once golden, add the garlic and carrots and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about a minute or so.
Next, sprinkle (singer) the flour over top the onions and carrots and stir to combine.
Next, add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Let cook for about one minute. Deglaze with about 1/2 cup of red wine, scraping the bottom to remove any sucs.
At this point, add the seared beef back to the pan, along with the lardons and the reserved bacon rind.
Step 5: Adding the Liquid & Bouquet Garni
- 2 cups full-bodied red wine
- 2 1/2 cups dark stock (beef or chicken)
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh parsley
- 1 bay leaf
Method
Add the red wine and stock to the pot. The ingredients should just be covered with the liquid. If you need to add more liquid, add equal amounts of wine and stock.
Next, add the bouquet garni, making sure to push it underneath the surface of the liquid. Bring to a simmer.
Step 6: Cooking the Stew
Method
Once the stew has come to a simmer, cover with a lid and transfer to the preheated oven.
Cook the stew until the meat is fork tender. This should take anywhere between 2 to 5 hours. This all depends on how high the temperature of the oven is.
After about 1 1/2 hours, it’s a good idea to check the stew for doneness. The dish should be cooked until the meat is completely fork-tender.
Once done, remove the stew from the oven. At this point, you can proceed to serve the stew now; however, we recommend that the stew be cooled and chilled overnight for the best flavor development.
If chilling overnight, for food safety reasons, it’s best to cool the stew quickly. To do this, place the pot over an ice bath and gently stir from time to time to bring the temperature down. Once cool, cover and transfer to the refrigerator overnight. To prepare the dish for serving, first remove any hardened excess fat from the surface of the stew.
Next, place the stew into a preheated oven (see note from Step 2) between 200° F to 350° F (or 95° C to 175° C). While the stew is reheating, you can prepare the onions and mushrooms.
Step 7: Preparing the Onions
- 1 recipe Braised Onions
Method
Follow the recipe for Braised Onions. These will take approximately one hour to prepare.
Step 8: Preparing the Mushrooms
- 1 recipe Sautéed Mushrooms
Method
Follow the recipe for Sautéed Mushrooms. These will take approximately 15 minutes to prepare.
Step 9: Finishing & Serving the Stew
- sea salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
To finish the stew, taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper, if needed.
Gently fold in the braised onions and sauteed mushrooms. Allow the stew to cool slightly before serving to obtain the maximum flavor. Foods that are extremely hot won’t have the same flavor and mouth feel.
This beef bourguignon is spectacular served with steamed green beans or Sauteed Green Beans and Pommes Parisienne.
110 Comments
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Five days ago I got out my "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (11th printing) because I was inspired by the movie, "Julie & Julia" to prepare the boeuf bourguignon. Had great fun assembling all the ingredients, with the exception of "blanched bacon rind", which was nowhere to be found! Preparation was over two days & I loved every minute! My husband took lots of photos along the way to document the event. My oldest & dearest friend and her husband were my "guinea pigs". The dish turned out better than my wildest expectations! I served the beef with mashed potatoes made with reds, with the skin left on. We also had baguettes to sop up that heavenly gravy. Your recipe has brought Julia's into the 21st century, and demystified the original that may daunt many cooks! Next time, I'll use this recipe. -
I've been making the original Julia Child's recipe for years with great success but a week ago I decided to try yours. It turned out even better than the original, thanks! The main difference I see is that the roux in yours is cooked with the vegetables (and deglazed) as opposed to doing it with the beef and onions in the original. This is certainly easier to do in my opinion but I also wonder if this explains the improved result (the beef was much more tender and the sauce thicker)? -
So glad you liked it. The way we add the flour (not coating the meat but by adding it to the mirepoix instead) would not make a difference in how tender the meat was...you just did a good job in cooking it. The thickness of the sauce is likely because we added a bit more flour and the ratio of flour and sauce were just well matched to the amount of beef. Hope this helps! -
Thanks for you comment Dawn. After thinking about it some more I suspect that my better results (more tender meat) probably had to do with the fact that this time I cubed the meat myself directly from chuck roasts. I made sure I picked out roasts that were well marbled whereas pre-cubed meat is usually very lean.
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I would like to double this recipe and freeze for a few weeks. Will the dish be compromised if I add the braised onions and sauteed mushrooms before freezing? I'd like to do as much ahead as possible but not at the expense of quality. ( I think I may be answering my own question by the fact that I am asking it:) -
I think it would be better not to freeze the onions and mushrooms with the stew, as they have high water content. Sorry Liz...but at least you can prep them ahead and just cook while the stew is re-heating...then just fold them in at the end.
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I made this recipe, although the sauce was delicious and the meat was tender, and the mushroom and onions were excellent, the meat was very dry. I used very lean stewing beef. Would it be better to use well-marbled beef? -
The "lean" beef you used for stewing was not ideal. For the best results, you need beef that is high in fat, collagen and connective tissue. This is all covered in great detail in the lesson on Stewing in the Rouxbe Cooking School. Not only will this answer your question, it will give you a clearer understanding on how to make any type of stew. There is also another lesson called Combination Cooking, that would also give you much more information on this type of cooking. Hope this helps!
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I know Julia child was a big fan of blanching her bacon, when she was adding it to dishes. Nowadays however, it seems to be more a matter of taste (or perhaps laziness) that most recipes do not call for blanching the bacon. You may think that when a recipe says to "blanch the bacon" it is really not necessary, but I think it is essential and here is why: Last week I made a big batch of Boeuf Bourguignon...I was pressed for time, so I omitted the blanching of the bacon. BIG mistake! The flavor of the bacon (in my opinion) totally overpowered the dish. Basically if you want your dish to have just a hint of bacon flavor (it will also add less salt), you should blanch the bacon before using it in a dish. If however if you really like the smoky flavor of bacon you may want to omit the blanching. You may also have to use a bit less salt if you do not blanch the bacon. Hope this saves someone from "overly bacony" Boeuf Bourguignon!
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I doubled this recipe and bought a 6 lb beef chuck roast. It didn't look like the one in the video and I assumed it was because of the size. I was concerned about the leaness and wondered about buying a different cut. But as the recipe called for chuck , and you have never steered me wrong, I went for it:) I slow cooked it at 200F for 8 hours. Five hours first, than frozen the next day and thawed a week later and cooked for another 3 hours before serving. My husband and I both found the meat a bit dry but most of the guests said they thought they must have won the beef lottery as theirs was very tender. Maybe we are becoming too critical but are some chucks or portions of chucks better than others? The gravy was amazing and the onions and mushrooms to die for! I served it with the pommes parisienne ( all 110 of them!).
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Any part of the chuck can be used for braising; you just have to look for plenty of fat, connective tissue and marbling - trust your instincts and also what you learned in the Combination Cooking Fundamentals Lesson, as I think you were right Liz. It sounds like perhaps you just got a lean chuck roast. This has also happened to me before. I actually went back to the butcher and told him how disappointed I was and he gave me another one for free. Now I always ask to see the roast (or cut) before they package it up, just to be sure it doesn’t look too lean. The cut of chuck that I usually ask for is a boneless chuck, or boneless short ribs. Boneless short ribs are sometimes referred to as "chuck flats" you can either cut them up to make stew, or you can tie two together to make a roast. A boneless blade would also work. In case you are interested, here is a beef chart from the Reluctant Gourmet. You can see that the chuck is actually quite a large section of beef and it has many different cuts within it. And to make matters even more confusing, most butchers call things different names. But don’t let that intimidate you, just look to see that the meat has plenty of fat, connective tissue and marbling and you should be fine. Hope this helps Liz!
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Thanks Dawn. I should have trusted my instincts and my knowledge from watching the video lessons. I will have a "chat" with my butcher:) I certainly want to make this again for company. I didn't mention that when I was reducing the dark stock for the onions , I cheated and drank the last 1/4 cup! ( I had doubled the recipe). I think it was the most incredible thing I have consumed in a very long while:)Beyond delicious:)
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When I asked the butcher for a 6 lb chuck roast I really didn't see it until I got home. Won't make that mistake again. I happened to see a rolled boneless blade chuck roast at Safeway on sale and it looked like it had fat and reminded me of the one in the stewing lesson, so I made the whole recipe again. It was 100% better and delicious but still not perfect. Than, watching the lesson again, you showed a shoulder roast so perhaps that would be better than the blade. However , my husband found some boneless short ribs - as you recommended in your previous post and also from the chuck section of beef:)that were cut in one inch strips and we were able to cube it. We had enough sauce left over from the previous 2 attempts and so for a very easy meal, we finally found perfection. They literally melted in our mouths. It really is a terrific recipe when you have the right cut of chuck. Thanks Rouxbe - it gets a 100% rating now:)
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First off, this stew rocks! I used a bonless blade roast with considerble fat and connective tissue, cut into ~2" cubes. After 4.5 hours at 200 degress, they were perfectly tender. My question is that between steps 8 and 9, there is no mention of when to add the beef and bacon lardons(just the rind). I added both of them before the wine/stock combo so i knew how much liquid to use. Then I started thinking, am I supposed to add the lardons at all? -
So glad that you liked the stew...I sure could go for some right now. As for when to add the lardon and bacon rind - seems that I must have had too much wine while I was making this :-) I have now corrected the recipe, Step 8 now says "At this point add the seared beef back to the pan, along with the lardon and the reserved bacon rind." Thanks Patrick! Good thing you know what you are doing hey!
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This website is awesome! I am planning on making this for a Christmas party for about 80 guests, adventourous, I know, do you think I can make this ahead of time, at least the meat portion, adding the onions and mushrooms day before party? I do use the Food saver freezing system.
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Rouxbe Staff
You can make and freeze the meat portion of this dish. As far as the mushrooms and onions go...if possible, I suggest you do them on the same day you are going to serve the dish. These are both better when just made, as they have high water content. If you scroll up a bit through the forum on this page, there is a bit more information on this. Great that you have a food saver as it really does help to prolong the life of frozen goods. Have fun cooking! -
Thanks for a great recipe! Made this as a "test" for the family and it passed! I look forward to serving it to family next week! Fully intend to blow them away!
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I bought a shoulder chuck from Market Meats on 4th. The guy there bought out the entire shoulder from the fridge and said he was going to cut 3 lbs off of the rib-side which he said was more marbled. It looked fairly marbled in the butcher shop and when I got home it also looked pretty good although I haven't cooked enough meats to know for sure. We did everything early this morning and put it in the oven at 200F. It's been in there for 4 hours and my wife checked it and says the meat is still pretty tough. I'm getting kind of worried. I've make many stews in my slow cooker before and never had this problem and I usually use fairly lean pre-cut stewing beef from Safeway. Does it just need more time? I usually do things in the slow cooker for 8-12 hours on the low setting but I have no idea how that temperature compares to 200F. The only difference in this recipe compared to my slow cooker stews is that the meat was browned on all sides before cooking, which I usually don't do. Any thoughts fellow cooks? -
Don't worry David, it likely just needs more time. A slow cooker generally cooks things between 170°F to 200°F (depending on the slow cooker or setting), so your oven is not that far off. You just need to be patient and let it cook longer. You will see that at some point the meat will just become tender (given that it was good meat - well marbled etc...which I am sure that it was). Good luck and let us know if you have anymore questions...we are here!
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My wife checked it at 5 hours and it was fork tender. She left it in for another half and hour or more just to make sure and then we put it in the fridge. The only hiccup was that it took forever to reheat. I finally upped the temperature to 250, then to 300 and then it was ready. I used a heavy All-Clad stainless (Al core) stock pot, not sure if that made any difference. If anything I would think that would heat faster as it would have less mass to heat up than a enameled cast iron. All the guests loved it. It was absolutely delicious!
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Any chance of this becoming a video recipe? -
This will likely not be a video (at least not in the near future) as we did an entire lesson on How to Make Stews. Once you learn how stews are made you understand that they are all pretty much the same...just different flavor combinations. That is the beauty of learning the techniques behind recipes...you realize that most dishes/recipes just follow patterns or paths. For more information on braising, stewing and pot roasting (combination cooking) watch all of the lessons in the "Moist Heat Cooking Section" of the Cooking School.
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I made the beef bourguignon today --my husband and I thought it superb! I want to make it for friend's b-day. Not sure what to serve with it. A lettuce and tom salad with oil/balsmic vinegar . or maybe a miler white vinegar.
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I would like to make this dish for 12 so it will involve making it twice. Do u think I could make it on Wed ( I have no time Thur) and serve it on Fri ?
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I would simply double the ingredients (you will likely have to do things in batches though). I suggest watching the lesson on Stewing and you will see just how easy it is to make as much as you want. As for making it on Wednesday for a Friday, go for it! Just do the mushrooms and onions on the Friday (you can prep the onions on Wednesday, but don't cook them). Good luck!
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I like to serve it with potatoes...Pommes Parisienne are my favorite. Sautéed Carrots or maybe even some buttered peas would also be nice. As you mentioned a salad would also go nicely. The balsamic and oil or a nice white wine vinegar would both go nicely. You may even try a nice champagne vinegar instead.
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"Incredible!" That's the first word from my wife's mouth after her first bite of this meal. I was surprised myself. I made the onions and mushrooms to accompany it. I have never actually eaten mushrooms with a meal before. I have to say, I impressed myself. As you put it, my "whole world of cooking will completely transform." It has! -
I prepared the beef bourgoinon on Wed evening using chuck..It cooked at 250 degrees for 4 hours. It tasted so tender , melted in my mouth!!!1. Today I added the mushrooms and onions. How long shoudl I cook it to serve at 6pm tonight? I was comcerned that the mushrm and onions may get too mushy, since i think I overcooked them already?
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I am seving the bourg with your carrot recipe and noodles. Do u have a suggestion for smthg cold also? When I waitressed in my colleg days, one restauant served a tiny cup of rasp sherbet, I think, on ech dinner plate. It sounds sort of sweet---any ideas? c
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Do you mean something cold on the same plate as the hot stuff? If I was going to serve something cold it would maybe be a salad, but only on the side. I do not think you need something cold on the same plate. Also when you say, "one restaurant served a tiny cup of raspberry sherbert, I think, on each dinner plate.", was this on the same plate as the savory hot dinner? If so, I have never heard of this, and I personally would never do it...just seems to much like dessert on the same plate. My recommendation would be to serve a nice salad as a side (maybe with Lemon Vinaigrette) or for something more elaborate...maybe start with Salade Lyonnaise, which would pair very nicely with this dish, as it is also very French. Hope this helps!
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Sorry I didn't see your first comment. I am not exactly sure what you mean here. Are you saying that the mushrooms and onions have already been added, or are they still on the side? You are essentially just reheating the stew. So if you want to do it at the same low temperature, it can easily be reheated slowly over a 2 or 3 hour period. Just depends on what kind of time you have. Also it can be taken out of the oven around 5 or 5:30 pm and it will easily stay hot until 6 pm (as long as it was properly heated back up). If you haven't already added the mushrooms and onions then you can just add them to the stew during the last 30 mins or so of reheating. If you have already added them and you feel like you may have overcooked them in the first place...don't sweat it. They will be fine, the lower temperature will help them to keep there shape. And if you are still worried...then pour a glass or two of wine for each guest before they even start eating and they won't notice a thing :-) Good luck!
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One more thing...when you have time Corinne, I suggest you watch all of the lessons on Moist Heat Cooking Methods from the Cooking School. In particular the Stewing Lesson, as this will answer many of your questions and also allow you to cook with even more freedom and confidence. Hope this helps!
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I made the Beef Bourgignon from your recipe, and reviewed the "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" version too. I do like your method of adding the flour to the veggies instead of the meat, and will keep doing it that way, because I, too, have had some gummy stew meat. Other than being a bit soupy at the end, which I could have thickened up with your tips you provided, it was delicious ! The flavor was so rich ! Over buttered white rice with some sauteed French green beans and baguette, the dish brought forth rave reviews from all. I'm actually anxious for breakfast to roll around so that I can microwave up another helping ! I also got to try my Christmas presents of Maldon Sea Salt and Tellicherry pepper on the dish, but I couldn't tell too much of a difference on the pepper flavor, although the texture of the couple of added salt crystals was nice. Ya'll should be so proud of your efforts on this site ! The design and flow are SO professional and easy to use. Rouxbe will help take my cooking to the next level - thanks to you all, and Happy New Year (soon). -
Great recipe. As many of the other people commented I found that 4 hours was just right to get the meat fork tender. It was so good that I made it first on Friday night and then again on Tuesday. However I modified two aspects of the recipe based on some tips from Bouchon. 1. I wrapped the meat in cheese cloth before cooking to easily separate the meat from the veggies after cooking before passing the veggies and sauce through a chinoise before reducing and passing the sauce again. 2. I cooked and glazed turned carrots separately so they would be soft, but still firm. These little changes helped make the dish a bit more than a stew and allowed for a nicer presentation with the stewed onions and the carrots really popping out. PS I kept the onion, carrot, bacon mush from straining for sandwich filling.
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Can I substitute dried thyme and parsley? If I understand correctly, I can freeze this before adding the pearl onions and mushrooms? I love this recipe. Thanks for making me a better cook. -
If you have to, you can use dried herbs instead of fresh you will just need to use less as dried herbs are stronger (typically 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs is the equivalent to about 1 teaspoon of dried herbs). And yes you can freeze this dish before adding the onions and mushrooms, though I encourage you to try it once without freezing it as I think it is better if not frozen. That being said, this dish frozen and then reheated will be better than any frozen dish you will find in the grocery store, so don't worry too much about it. As for "making you a better cook" you are most welcome...but really you are doing all the work, so pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for taking the time and making the effort to become a better cook :-) Cheers!
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I plan on serving Boeuf bourguignon for our Easter dinner, and I was wondering whether it makes a difference if I make the onions and mushrooms a day ahead as well and refridgerate the meat and the vegetables already mixed together. I'd like to be able to just reheat it on Sunday. You were talking about how you shouldn't freeze the onions and mushrooms, but does refridgerating it over night make a difference in taste? -
Ideally you may want to do the onions and mushrooms the day of; but really you should be fine to do everything ahead, refrigerate it and then reheat it all together. Cheers!
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At what point should the bouquet garni be removed? When the stew is done, after it is reheated, or at some other point in this process? Thanks for your help.
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Doesn't really matter. You can remove it after nit's cooked, after it's reheated, before you serve it or not at all. Cheers!
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My friends and I do not eat pork so would it be ok to leave the bacon out or use turkey bacon? Thanks.
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You can leave the bacon out if you do not eat pork. You may want to try adding a bit of turkey bacon for added flavor but turkey bacon can be quite dry so I would barely saute it if using. If you can find some that is more fatty or thicker this would be even better. Cheers!
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I really like the video recipes. This recipe is part of this section: http://rouxbe.com/how-to-cook/french-cooking-recipes Instructional Video Recipes & Classes ...but is just pics. -
Some of the recipes in that landing page are indeed text recipes (like this one). This is because we have an entire section in the cooking school that covers "Combination Cooking" and "How to Make a Stew". This text recipe is a great way to practice what you have learned in all of those lessons. Cheers!
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I mean, text/pic recipes are like any other recipe site. Rouxbe is special. I urge you not to dilute the experience with what might be easier to produce. Best regards.
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Hi Dan, First off, I've corrected the label on that landing page to "Instructional Video & Text Recipes" As for your other comment re: text vs video recipes, I'd like to help you better understand why we are doing what we are doing, which is - we are shooting professional cooking classes. While we may VERY infrequently add a new video recipe to our site, this does very little to help our students become better cooks. So we are focused solely on shooting video lessons. You are very correct in that Rouxbe is special (at least we think so). We teach you how to braise everything rather than just a single braised recipe, for example. If you watch our moist-heat video lessons, you will learn how to 100% successfully master this recipe even though it is text. You will also learn how to master any braised recipe on the web. So it's much more powerful than video recipes. You simply don't need a video recipe. It also happens to be exactly how professional chef instructors teach this recipe in cooking school. They focus on teaching empowering skills and techniques that will enable their students to take any text recipe from any resource and make it better than Julia Child herself. Give it a try and let us know if this works. Trust me, it's better that video recipes. With video recipes you are just a slave to the recipe (do this, do this, do this... etc). Learn. Empower yourself. Cheers, Joe -
Forgot to add... it actually takes us about 4 times longer to produce a video lesson, compared to a video recipe. Just thought I'd throw this out there because you were thinking we were taking short cuts. We really just want to help people become better cooks. Hope this makes sense now.
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The text recipes with the links to the technique videos is one of the things that makes Rouxbe such a great website for me. It is exactly what I always wonder about. A recipe says 'braise the beef' I used to wonder 'what the heck is braising?'. Now I have a link to a technique video, and after watching that I now have a clue. Slowly but surely it all starts making sense. For me, Rouxbe fills that gap perfectly. I do agree that the title of that particular page was confusing, so thanks for changing that. -
How cool is it to have the CEO respond and adjust the site in response to a comment? thanks I enjoy being part of the Rouxbe club.
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Hi Rouxbe! The longest process in cooking Beef Bourguignon is browning the meat which results in developing of the sucks and contributes to building up the flavor. Would it be ok to brown only, let say, half of the meat thus cutting the time of browning in half as well? There will be plenty of sucks to enrich the stew. Could you please comment on this thought?
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Interesting question/thought...but I would have to say no, unless you want less flavor in your stew. In that case I suppose you could just brown half of the meat. Stews are one of those dishes where the labor is what makes them so great. Ultimately, to really know if it it is worth it or not you would need to make 2 batches. One where you brown half of the meat and the other where you brown all of it. Of course this would be even more work but in the end you would likely know if it is worth it to you. For me, personally it's worth it. Cheers!
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Okay, I feel compelled to chime in here. Let's not forget that this magnificent dish cooks about 90% all by itself. The end result though WILL BE a combination of some simple, yet critical skill and technique during the early stages of the dish. And for this dish, it's: 1. selecting the right cut of meat 2. heating your pan to the right temperature 3. searing the meat correctly (nice caramelization) 4. protecting the sucs 5. deglazing 6. adding a good stock The rest all happens in the oven (or on the stove) over a long slow effortless cooking process. When we create ANY dish, what we do in the early stages is so critical to the end result. Shortcuts are great, but in some cases, they just aren't worth it, particularly when it involves developing flavor through proper execution. Love and embrace the process and you will love the end result. Joe
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What a treat! Not only I’ve got an answer to my question, I’ve got a discussion. I am so lucky to be a part of Rouxbe community. Thank you so very much. Your pride and dedication to your business is shining through. Well, I knew the answer… Just kidding:)
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I have just tasted my first effort at this recipe and am absolutely delighted with the results. Sumptuous, fall-apart meat and delicious vegetables smothered in that rich velvety sauce. The sub-100 degree cooking temperature worked a treat (5 hours needed) as did the blanching of the bacon (FAR more subtle). My only deviation was the addition of chopped celery. Many thanks to you all
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I'd really like to make this for Christmas dinner but I don't have a dutch oven. Would a good stock pot that's also usable in the oven suitable, or do I need to hold off? I also might have access to a camping dutch oven (black cast iron one from Lodge). Would that work or does it have to be enamelled? -
Rouxbe Staff
A Dutch oven is not necessary, but we do prefer cooking with heavy-bottomed pots and pans to prevent the ingredients from scorching or burning due to hot spots. Take care when browning the meat and building the stew and you should be fine. Cheers!
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I'm not sure if I can find slab bacon, so if I have to substitute thick-cut bacon I have a novice question. Is there some part of thick-cut bacon that is the rind that should be trimmed off, or does a rind just come on slab bacon? Second, if I am able to find the slab bacon, I was reading thru the recipe and didn't see where the rind was removed. Sorry again for the naive questions, but is it just assumed that you remove it when the stew is done, or does it dissolve into the stew?
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Rouxbe Staff
Slab bacon is a large, single piece of bacon with the rind left on. If you substitute thick-cut bacon, make sure it's not maple flavored or something like that. We tried this once as it is what we had on hand and we did not like the results at all. Not all thick-cut bacon may come with the rind attached. If you can't find it with the rind on, don't worry. Regarding what to do with the rind, check out Steps 1, 2 and 8 - the text there tells you what to do with it. Cheers!
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The first time I made Boeuf Bourguignon is about a year ago now, following the directions from a TV show called Tyler's Ultimate. There were some points in the recipe that I realized that I was completely out of my league, not knowing what the heck I was doing. The recipe calls for a LOT of wine beef stock, and the TV program did not show exactly how to incorporate the flour. So that turned into a big mess (dry flour + a bottle of wine and a box of stock = lump city). My wife and I saved it, and the dish eventually came out delicious but I knew I needed help, and that is when I started looking for cooking lessons online and found Rouxbe. So today, about a year later, I made it again. After the Rouxbe lessons about braising, stewing, sauteeing, what is a roux, how to incorporate it, how to deglaze, all of those techniques made me able to enjoy the cooking with confidence, and the dish came out spectacular! What amazed me most was how sure I was about the amount of wine and stock to use (much less than the original recipe calls for), how to put the 'roux' together and how to incorporate that with the wine and stock. I wanted to share this because I can remember watching Joe's intro video where he talks about how he wants us to know how to cook rather than follow a recipe. Today was one of those moments that I went against the recipe because I actually knew what I was doing, and it came out great!! So thank you Kimberly and Dawn and Joe and everyone else at Rouxbe. As a mere home cook making progress is very slow going (we only have a few chicken breasts a week to practice on). Having the help of pros like you has made a HUGE difference.
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I'm having some guests over and am planing to make this recipe. They don't use any wine in cooking, so my question is, if I were to replace the wine with stock or water how much impact on final result would that have?
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Rouxbe Staff
There is a substantial amount of wine in this recipe and it does contribute to the flavor of the final dish. Water will not add any flavor, so it's better to use stock. Here is a link for red wine substitutions if you want to do some experimenting. Perhaps just a little balsamic vinegar or pomegranate molasses can offer a bit of acidity that you'll miss out on from the wine. Cheers!
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Thank you for fast answer. Just a quick follow up questions: Could acidity be added by using fresh tomato instead of tomato paste or alongside with it? Another newbie question, if using balsamic vinegar, how much to put in (1 tbsp?) I'm guessing the best option (if not using wine, of course :) ) would be to put stock in almost total amount of liquid and little balsamic vinegar.
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Rouxbe Staff
In addition to the paste, I might use a bit of tomato juice with the stock instead of fresh tomatoes (the seeds could contribute some bitterness). Sure, a tablespoon or so of balsamic would be fine. Don't get carried away though. Next time you make this dish, you might want to try it with the red wine so you can compare the flavors. Good luck!
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First off. I just finished my sauce and it took everything in my power not to just eat the whole pot then and there. ... I'm saving this for tomorrow.... I'm saving this for tomorrow. While we're being picky about the recipe. (look at my other comments, and you'll see I'm always pedantic) I noticed that the directions say to use a dutch oven, while the pictures are of a large 3 1/2 Le Creuset Buffet Casserole. The only reason this matters, I don't think my version would not have fit into the casserole. Perhaps my carrots and onions were larger etc. I agree that the Casserole is the preferred pot; in fact, when I used to sell cookware, I always recommended the Buffet Casserole and it's versatility as someones first piece of Le Creuset. Just note that the suggested ingredients volume just fit inside.
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I just wanted to add that the casserole dish that is shown in the final or main picture (the teal colored one) was only used to reheat and serve the stew. We were serving it family style and I thought it would make for nicer presentation than the larger Dutch oven that I used to cook the stew in. For more information regarding choosing the right pot, see the the topic called Choosing a Pot for Combination Cooking from the lesson on Combination Cooking. Cheers!
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I am in the middle of preparing this excellent recipe and noticed that in Step 3 it says "Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the oil and lardons" What oil? Jorge -
In the ingredient list in Step 3, it says 1 to 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil. This is used to fry the lardons. Enjoy the dish!
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Maybe I have an old recipe because mine does not show the tsp. of oil. Of course I added some olive oil. Thanks Jorge
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Could you tell me how this should be plated? I completed the lesson on plating but it did not address this type of main. I would like to serve it with either mashed potatoes or pommes parisienne and possibly green beans. Thank-you!
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This type of dish is typically served in a bowl. If serving it with other sides, you could use a shallow bowl and just roughly follow the plating lesson. But really, I wouldn't get too carried away with presentation when it comes to these types of dishes as they are generally meant to be rustic and homey and not necessarily thought to be fine dining. Hope that helps. Cheers!
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Someone recently posted a picture of his Boeuf Bourguignon on the Rouxbe Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rouxbe That rustic presentation sure looks delicious :)
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Love, love, LOVE this recipe! Attempted to make beef bourg a while ago, with the meat dredged in flour; the result then was gummy meat and a smoky kitchen from the burnt flour—ick! I also didn't have a dutch oven then. The layering of flavors in your recipe and adding the flour w/the mirepoix (instead of dredging the meat in it) made all the difference! Definitely will make more batches of this wonderful stew throughout the winter. Thank you RouxBe! -
I've seen a few recipes now requiring lardons or bacon slab with pork rind intact as an ingredient. The slab gets boiled down to remove the saltiness and I would think most of any seasoning. I haven't seen bacon slabs in the grocery stores I usually go to but have found pork belly which I think is where bacon comes from. Is fresh pork belly (which isn't seasoned) an equivalent substitute or should I be sourcing for "bacon slab" for the true flavour needed? Thanks.
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Rouxbe Staff
A butcher should sell slabs, otherwise simply substitute slices of bacon. No blanching necessary for bacon, only for salted pork fat - a completley different product than bacon, usually cheaper and much saltier. -
Hi, i would like to know why we separate the bacon into rind and lardon?. Can we just cut them into small dice instead?. Thank you. -
This recipe is from Julia Child; therefore we did not really change it. The lardon is cooked separately for flavor and texture while the rind is used mostly to add fat (which adds moisture, mouthfeel etc.) and flavor. Basically they serve two slightly different purposes. The rind will melt away as it cooks whereas the lardon will not. If you like you can simply cook some lardon (or small dice, but just note that they will likely get lost in the dish and also permeate the entire dish as they would be smaller). Cheers!
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i choose this receipe to be done for 300 peoples, most of the conversion i'm fine with it, i'm just wondering about ( 2 spring fresh thyme, 2 spring fresh parsley...) how do i quantify that for 300?, and also the receipe call for 6 to 8 peoples, i multiply by 7, is this OK? thank you, robert -
Rouxbe Staff
If you need to cook this dish for 300 and the recipe only serves 6 to 8, you're looking at scaling the recipe much higher (not by only 7). If you are serving many sides and not so much meat, divide by 300 people by 8. If the stew is the main event, I'd divide 300 by 6 (leftovers can always be frozen). Better to have more than run out. 300 divided by 6 = 50. That means 50 full recipes are required to serve 300 people (not just 7 recipes). Basically, every ingredient needs to be multiplied by 50. If 2 sprigs of thyme are used for 1 recipe and you need to make 50 recipes, you'll need about 100 sprigs of thyme, 150 pounds of beef chuck (3 pounds x 50) , 6.25 liters of wine, and so on. Double and triple check your numbers. Proper scaling and mise en place is critical when scaling recipes. Cheers!
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Thank you for the guidance, it's a big step but with what i have learned here so far i feel totally confident, power to you.
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What a great way to spend Valentine's Day... this was a labour of love, and I did it for my sweetie, who loves stew.. especially since she knows that I am not a big fan of stews. Have to admit tho', that this was pretty good. I loved the accompanying Pommes Parisiennes, and pulling the whole thing together was half the fun. Please don't tell her that I actually liked the stew, since she was so impressed that I put my own preferences aside to create a marvelous stew for her...:) -
Thank you to all Rouxbe team, with this receipe, i won the silver medal in our community "cookout", i had to cook for over 150 peoples and i didn't have enough! We were 7 competitors and it was a blast, pure fun, it was so easy and straight to the point, i was amaze myself how well and fast this receipe was execute. As for the comment, it was unamous...simply amazing!!! Some peoples were coming for second, even kids, and the smell was devine, again thank you for giving me the tools to better myself as a passionate with food, but mainly, thank you for helping make all those peoples happy with god's food. Robert
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I found this quite tasty (the meat was delicious and fall-apart-fork tender), but thought the sauce could use a bit of thickening. (I used the recommended 1/4 cup of flour.) Keeping in mind the amount of work required to make the dish, I don't want to do too much trial and error. Given that I need to thicken five cups of liquid, I was thinking of increasing the amount of flour to either 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup. Any thoughts on this? -
Rouxbe Staff
Thickening a sauce at the end of making a stew is covered in the lesson on Stewing in the Cooking School (Topic 7 specifically). You can also use a beurre manie to thicken a sauce. The more times you make the dish, the more you will become familiar with how much flour to use to reach the consistency you like. You could try using 1/2 cup but I wouldn't use more than this. It's better to make adjustments at the end by following the techniques in the lesson. The sauce should just nicely coat the ingredients but not be thick/gummy. Cheers!
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There's the problem... haven't taken that lesson yet. I will rectify that situation shortly. Thanks!
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I just joined rouxbe this week and was inspired by a book to make this recipe for my book club. I slaved over it all night (almost literally), then took it in to work today and warmed it in a slow cooker. It was a hit! We're having the leftovers tomorrow. Despite the fact that it was a hit, I felt I made some errors. 1. My sauce was too thin (Kimberly answered that issue above). 2. I don't think I braised my beef perfectly...a lot of juices came out when I rested it on the plate while prepping the veg. 3. I'm still working on my knife skills and even dicing. 4. After it had cooled, I didn't scoop off as much grease as I should have. As a result, I spent an hour skimming. 5. I used pancetta instead of a slab of bacon, not sure if that was a mistake or not. In the end, although it was a hit, I'm striving for perfection :) -
Rouxbe Staff
Welcome to Rouxbe :-) Glad to hear your dish was a hit - nice work! In regards to #2, I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean juices were coming out of the meat after you seared it (in step 2)? If so, this is normal at this stage and all of the resting juices can be incorporated into the stew. RE: #5, yes, pancetta will give it a slightly different flavor, but with all of cooking, it is okay to improvise if you don't have the exact ingredients on hand. I'm sure you'll be able to try this dish again with the bacon. In regards to your other questions, it might be helpful for you to review the lessons on Combination Cooking in the Moist-Heat Cooking Methods section of the school. Here you will learn all there is about braising, stewing and pot-roasting and the fundamentals behind this versatile technique. This stew is actually a practice recipe from the lesson on Stewing. Hope this helps! Cheers!
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Hi Dawn! I tried the recipe today after having watched the stewing lesson a few times :) and was sooo happy with the results! The sauce was really tasty and velvety and the touch of braised onions was amazing! Everyone absolutely loved it! Thank you so much to the Rouxbe team for such great lessons and recipes! It's so encouraging to get such great results! Eva -
So glad to hear that Eva. Keep up the great work!
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please try if the following could help you making the dish. intensifying all flavors. the wine, Red & bold, and finished with port, marinating the meat into the wine and then intensify the flavor by using reduced stock with added bits of beef, clarified; use of different varieties of mushrooms for flavoring. On cooking procedure, while cooking the beef, vegetables, with aromatics in red wine and reduced stock I add a slice of bacon - once done Cooking the beef, Remove the bacon and the meats slowly from the pot. what to do with the veggies and the sauce, - I blitz everything in the blender turning it into a very thick puree, pass everything to fine sieve and set aside the sauce packed with all flavors not only of the beef and wine but also with the vegetables, thin with little bit of stock and finished it with port for little sweetness. garnishment: glazed vegetables, caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms in butter, topped with deep fried enoki mushrooms, and lardons. for the choice of meats I never go wrong with what we learned from our lessons on braising anf stewing -
Hi , I agree with Joseph recommendation . Usually when making this dish without pureeing the vegetable, I would need to thicken the sauce with roux or starch and the vegetable has lost its al dente bite after a long term cooking process. So pureeing the vegetable will do the thickening job and adding sauteed vegetable will give you a better mothfeel for the vegetable. I do add some roasted veal bones before braising to enhance flavor. For me this is one of the great classics of the French cuisine and a dish that will last forever. -
This is quite a lot of work but the result is stunning. It is the best beef Bourguignon I have eaten. Thanks for a great recipe. -
I have made Boeuf Bourguignon several times before, but I am trying this recipe for my Christmas Eve dinner party because I know that Rouxbe recipes are always the best, restaurant quality, recipes people in my family talk about forever, and before I get to my question, I want to thank you for that. Since I am tripling the recipe, I asked my butcher to cut the chuck in 2-inch cubes, which he found unusual. He told me that for Boeuf Bourguignon, they usually cut 1-inch pieces and, although I had to agree in that every recipe I tried in the past called for smaller pieces of meat, I insisted on 2 inches. But now, I wonder why the larger pieces in this recipe. Does it make a difference? -
Yes, most stews to call for smaller pieces of meat; however, when serving these types of dishes it can be nice to serve pieces that are a bit bigger. Especially, when serving a crowd. It also makes for less work when it comes to searing the meat — searing 20 larger pieces of meat vs. searing 40 smaller pieces of meat for example. Another reason this recipe calls for bigger pieces is that a slightly bigger piece of meat can look "classier" then a bunch of smaller "stew-like" pieces of meat. For example, higher-end restaurants might tend to serve bigger pieces rather then smaller pieces. Partly due to the fact that "stews" are not necessarily considered "fancy" or "higher-end". Hope that helps. Cheers.
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Can I use a combination of venison and beef? how do you think this would turn out? I'm trying to use up the venison steaks in the freezer. Thanks -
Sure! It will taste different, but if you like the taste of venison, it will work fine. Because of the long cooking times, pretty much anything you use will be tender and full of flavour.
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I was just reading Dawn's post from a year ago and while her point about searing the meat is valid, her math is off. If I have the beef cut into 1" cubes instead of 2" cubes, I will actually end up with 8 times as many pieces of meat. Instead of 20 x 2" cubes I would end up with 160 x 1" cubes. That IS a lot of pieces of meat to sear!
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I have made this recipe with Venison and it was fine, as long as you like the taste of Venison (as Leigh mentioned). Also, after a sweat in northern Saskatchewan in December a few years back, I had a very similar stew made with Moose. I am not sure Moose worked as well with the long cooking times and wine. However, after 4-30 minute sweat sessions over 210˚F, I think I would have eaten shoe leather. -
I will be serving this beef bourguignon tomorrow night to a few guests, with parisienne potatoes and green beans. I made it before, so I am not worried that it will taste terrific. That said, I often like to serve something unusual or new for fun, so I picked up a black radish at the market today and was wondering how I can incorporate it into this meal. I've never had it, and the research I did online didn't help much. I did learn that they can be deep fried (like potato chips), baked, stewed, or eaten raw like any other radish. I'd love to hear some ideas on how to incorporate them in tomorrow's menu. I wondered if I could serve them raw as part of a salad, I even thought of cutting them into strings with my veggie spiralizer, deep frying them, and topping my stew with them for a little crunch. Does any of this make sense?
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Hi Danielle - thanks for your question and indeed, it makes great sense! I love this recipe and really love that you are trying something fun and new to compliment the dish! So with the radish, two thoughts - 1) you can extract the juice from the black radish and combine with your red wine reduction, thus including right in the actual beef bourguignon. Or, for a more visual effect, 2) you can slice the radish very thin and combine with sliced bread of your choice. We like to trim the crust off of nice rye bread to create even squares and then spread some really nice Irish Butter over the bread and then shingle the thinly sliced radish over the top - sort of an open-faced little sandwich. Then, lightly sprinkle sea salt over the radish! A very nice compliment to your lovely bourguignon! I hope this helps! Thanks so much for engaging with Rouxbe! All the best, Chef Kirk -
The link to the stewing lesson is broken, and the combination cooking also is broken
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Rouxbe Staff
It looks like the links are back up. Thanks for the feedback! -
Hi, how can i substitute bacon , and red wine ... thank you :) -
is that possible in this recipe :)
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Rouxbe Staff
Regarding the bacon, consider another cured meat to provide saltiness and depth of flavor. Regarding the wine, consider verjus.
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How would you plate this dish (or any stew), if I were to serve it for example with the semolina polenta? I watched the section on plating, but it seems that it would be different for something runny like a stew.
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Rouxbe Staff
Annie, Great question! I would plate this Beef Bourguignon in the center/on top of polenta in a wide bowl. I would garnish it with fried shallots or crispy onions and freshly chopped chives. All the best, Chris -
A few questions 1) with regards to the pearl onions, the only ones I can find, fresh or frozen are quite small. Would it be okay to use boiler onions instead? I've never eaten them, I don't know if the taste is the same, or if it's an acceptable choice. Do you have any opinions on searing the meat in clarified butter or beef tallow instead of the bacon drippings? I can't find unsmoked bacon, so in the past I've used Pancetta, or salt pork which must be blanched to reduce the salt. I've thought about Applewood bacon as it's supposed to be less smoky than the more common hickory smoked bacon. Thank you.
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Paul, Yes, you can use a variety of onions to substitute for sweet and mild pearl onions--shallots, cipollini, boiling onions, or leeks. It is perfectly fine to use clarified butter or beef tallow to sear the meat. Traditionally in France you had a supply of pork fat that you could use for many common savory dishes, regardless of the meat or bird used.
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