Beef bourguignon (Boeuf Bourguignon)

I've made this recipe once and it takes a long time to cook so make sure you start early. 

It has an incredibly rich and strong flavour which comes not just from the beef but mainly from the wine. The onions are a sweet and very tasty addition. The blandness of the boiled potatoes is a welcome relief to it's overpowering flavour.

The next day the flavour was better! Next time we're hosting, I'll make this recipe the day before and then re-heat it on the day.

Recipe from 'Paris in a basket: markets, the food and the people', by Nicolle Meyer and Amanda Smith.

Serves: 10 persons.

Ingredients:

• 125g bacon strips
• 1.5kg diced beef (a cut fit for slow cooking)
• 2 onions - 200g, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots - 250g, peeled and sliced
• 40g plain flour
• 1 bottle of red wine, bordeaux or bourgogne (I used an Italian red wine I had at home)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 500g white or button mushrooms
• olive oil
• 500g small shallots
• 40g butter
• 2 tbsp sugar
• parsley, finely chopped

Method:

1. Brown the bacon in a large pan. Reserve. I browned the bacon slices whole and then cut them into strips.
   

   

   
   
   
2. Add the meat to the pan and brown it, in batches if necessary. Reserve the meat juice and the meat.
   

   

   
   
   
3. Sweat the onions and carrots in the pan. It doesn't say to add more fat and I was worried it would stick to the bottom so I stirred it often.
   

   
   
   
4. Add the bacon and meat to the pan and stir. 
   
   
   
5. Add the flour, mixing it well to coat the meat. I have done this before and the flour ended up in lumps in the pan so what I did this time was to mix the flour aside with some meat juice and then add it to the meat.
   

   

   

   
   
   
6. Add the wine, the meat juice and salt & pepper to taste, stir well, cover and bring to the boil.
   
   
   
7. Reduce the heat and simmer on a low heat covered for at least 2 hours. Stir it occasionally so that the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom. I set the timer to stir it every 20 min and it took me 3 hours to reduce the sauce to the right thickness, with the pan uncovered for the last hour.
   
   
   
8. Wash and cut the mushrooms in quarters. Brown them in a frying pan with olive oil. A garlic clove can be added if desired. Reserve.
   

   
   
   
9. In a pan, steam the shallots, with their skin, on a thin layer of water, for 1-2 min. This will make peeling them easier. Peel the shallots. I will be using small shallots next time as the big ones were a bit of a mouthful! 
   

   

   
   
   
10. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the shallots and coat them with the butter. Sprinkle the sugar and stir the shallots in the sugary butter until all sugar is melted. Cover and let it cook for 2 min. Reserve.
    

    

    
    
    
11. When the stew is ready the meat is tender and the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add the mushrooms and the shallots and correct seasoning.
    
    
    
12. Sprinkle the parsley on top of the meat and serve it with boiled potatoes.