This beef is cooked for four hours to ensure its meltingly tender. This is a really delicious dish and its great for when you’ve got company. Start off by preheating your oven to 160 degrees Celcius and then you will cook the beef bourguignon in a cast iron dish then transfer to the oven to finish the cooking. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the cooking dish and heat over medium heat then fry diced pancetta and when they are well browned, remove from the pot and set aside.

Any type of casserole steak will do with this dish, so add three tablespoons of all-purpose flour to your beef and a quarter teaspoon of salt and pepper then mix together to coat. Add the beef to the pot to brown in batches. It’s important to cook the beef in batches because you want to get that lovely color on it and sure it’s sealed all over. When it’s all browned, you will add all the beef back into the pan and start layering up the flavors.

Add in a tablespoon of tomato puree than a whole bottle of red wine, you can use any type of red wine that you like. Add in beef stock, some shallots then add medium-sized carrots. Give everything a stir and bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and place a lid on the pan then move it to the oven to cook for three hours.

You will check a couple of times during the cooking process just to make sure the bourguignon isn’t cooking dry, if it is, you can stir in half a cup of water. The aroma from this dish will have your guests salivating. After three hours, you will add the bacon lardons and fried shallots. Place the lid back on and place it in the 0ovenfor ten more minutes. You can serve it with creamy mashed potatoes and enjoy.

Ingredients;

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • ½ cup bacon lardons
  • 20 small shallots peeled, 6 of them cut in half, the rest left whole
  • 3 lbs beef braising steak i.e chuck or skirt, cut into large chunks
  • 3 tbsp plain/all-purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 x 750ml bottle red wine it doesn’t have to be an expensive wine, I used Shiraz
  • 1 cup 240ml beef stock
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 16-20 chantenay carrots peeled
  • 2 cups brown mushrooms thickly sliced

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
  2. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish and add the lardons. Fry until golden brown, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.
  3. Add the halved shallots to the pan and fry on high in the same pan for a few minutes until seared, then add to the bowl with the lardons.
  4. There should still be 2-3 tbsp of oil left in the pan at this point if there isn’t top up with a little more oil.
  5. Toss the beef with the flour, salt, and pepper, then brown the beef in the pan in 3 or 4 batches (about 5-6 minutes per batch).
  6. Spoon out each batch into a bowl before starting on the next batch. When cooked, add all the beef back into the pan and stir in the tomato puree, then add the wine, beef stock, bay leaves, thyme, carrots, mushrooms, and the whole shallots.
  7. Give everything a stir – to release any bits that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Then bring to the boil and turn off the heat.
  8. Place a lid on top and place in the oven to cook for 3 hours. Check a couple of times to make sure the Bourguignon isn’t going dry. If it is starting to look a little dry, add half a cup of water.
  9. After 3 hours, stir the bacon lardons and fried shallots into the pan, place the lid back on and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes to heat through.
  10. Serve with mashed potatoes and greens.