Beef Burgandy

As we come into colder weather, we can now start making those dishes that heat up our kitchens that are generally avoided in the Summer. This Beef Burgandy is one of those, and one of the tastiest dishes I have ever made. It is a little labor intensive at the beginning before it gets into the oven, so make sure if you have a stretch of time you are able to be uninterrupted.

The layers of flavor that are in this dish are incredible. It is also a fairly easy dish to customize. If you are familiar with the classic recipe, it includes pearl onions which I omit, but yet I add celery. When I first started making this dish, I did pearl onions in it, but after one time when I omitted them because I forgot to buy them, I realized I enjoyed it better without them. I served this with simple mashed potatoes and corn bread. I thought the three foods complimented each other perfectly.

Enjoy!

Look at that! I actually sliced and chopped all my vegetables before I started cooking! A rarity. You can probably also tell those carrots are baby carrots. I had a bunch in the fridge, so I decided to use those this time instead of normal carrots. These worked just as good.

Browning the second batch of beef.

Now the onions.

Carrots and celery thrown in.

As usual, my final picture does NOT do this meal justice. The beef was perfect! This is a standard meal, once or twice a month for us in the colder months.

Beef Burgandy

Ingredients

6 slices thick cut bacon, diced

3 pound chuck roast or round roast, cut in to 1—inch cubes (can also use pre-cut stew meat in a pinch)

2 cups red wine, such as Pinot Noir

2 yellow onions, thinly sliced

2 carrots, sliced

2 celery stalks, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 cups of beef broth

1 ½ cups of white button mushrooms, sliced

Vegetable oil (if needed)

Directions

Pat the beef cubes dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper, set-aside.

Heat a stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, and the fat has rendered. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Pour off and reserve the bacon fat, leaving one tablespoon in the skillet.

Add a single layer of beef cubes to the skillet to sear. Do not overcrowd the pan (you will need to brown in batches), and do not move the cubes until they brown on the bottom and release easily from the skillet. Turn over and brown the other sides. Once all sides are brown, remove from the pan and add to a Dutch oven. Add ¼ cup of red wine to the skillet to deglaze, scraping all the dark bits up. When the skillet is clean, pour the contents into the bowl with the meat.

Add one tablespoon of reserved bacon fat to the skillet. Once it is heated, repeat the steps to brown the next batch of meat. If a third batch is required, repeat the deglazing step before browning the third batch.

Once all the meat is browned, add 1 tablespoon of reserved bacon fat (or vegetable oil if you have run out of fat) to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium. Once heated, add the onions and cook until softened and browned. Stir often. Add carrots and celery, and cook until softened. Add garlic and tomato paste, and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the Dutch oven with the meat.

Clean the skillet, or use a new one to cook the mushrooms. Heat one tablespoon of bacon fat (or oil) in the skillet, and cook mushrooms until they have released their liquid, the liquid has evaporated, and the mushrooms have become golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside with the bacon.

Stir the meat and vegetables together. Place the thyme sprigs in with the mixture, and add remaining wine. Use the broth to increase the liquid amount until it comes up right below the top of the meat/vegetable mixture. Cover and cook at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours, until the meat falls apart easily with a fork. 15 minutes prior to being done, add in the mushrooms and bacon and stir to incorporate.

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