Confession – my son and I made beef wellington for New Years Eve. I bought 2 – 1 pound beef filets so we each got to assemble one. I will start with they tasted fabulous. The process is quite long and a little tedious it was a lot of cleaning and chopping (mushrooms) cooking and cooling (mushrooms and beef). I was like OK one and done been there done that I’m good. My son said we’ll do better next time – huh? I did do most of the prep work and cleaning 3 containers of mushrooms (which I am not a fan) and then having to finely chop all of them was a little much. I think next time: if there is one I will use my food processor.
I had a feeling that the wellingtons were going to take a lot of time and figured they would be edible but wanted something to serve that was more in my wheelhouse. So I made Beef Bourguignon the day before and finished it just before serving. Another confession the onions and mushrooms overcooked aka burned in the bottom of my pan so badly that I almost didn’t have enough to serve everyone. It was a rough night for me 🙂
Despite my short comings, yes I am taking most of the blame; we had a great time and everyone loved the food. The recipe I am sharing is a beef stew with a fancy name. No offense intended you are stewing beef just in a bottle of good wine instead of water or beef broth. It really is quite lovely and rich with beef and wine flavor. My daughter made Fondant Potatoes that were SO good I will have to try making them so I can share the recipe with you. They melted in your mouth.
Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef chuck or stewing beef cut into 2 inch cubes
- 2.5 teaspoons kosher salt more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 ounces bacon diced or use lardons or pancetta
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic miced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 750-mililiter bottle good red wine something you would drink
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 8 ounces shallots or pearl onions peeled, shallots diced, onions left whole
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms cleaned and diced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- pinch sugar
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish chopped
Instructions
- Season beef with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper all over. Set aside for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or you can place in the fridge overnight.
- In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid, cook bacon over medium-low heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon are browned and crisp about 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a paper lined plate. Reserve fat in the pot - you are building flavor.
- Heat oven to 350°F. Raise the heat under the pot to medium-high cook until the fat is just starting to smoke. Time to start searing the beef. do not over crowd and sear on all sides. Remove seared beef to a plate or bowl. Repeat until all pieces have been browned and are on the plate. Add the onion and carrot and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Stir in garlic and tomato paste, cook for 1 minute, stir in the flour, cook another minute and then add the wine, bay leaf and thyme, scraping up any of the browned bits on the bottom on the pot. Add the browned beef and half of the cooked bacon back into the pot. cover, and transfer to the oven. Cooking until the beef is very tender. about 1½ hours or so.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, combine the shallots and mushrooms plus a ¼ cup of water, the olive oil and a pinch of salt, black pepper and sugar. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the meat to medium-low. cooking for about 10-15 minutes. Uncover and raise the heat to high cooking and tossing frequently until they are browned about 5-7 minutes.
- To Serve, scatter the onion and mushrooms and remaining cooked bacon over the strew and top with fresh parsley.
- NOTE: you can make the stew a day or two before, just wait on the onions and mushroom part until the day you are serving.
Don’t judge me too harshly they tasted awesome. I saw that Scott Conant also made Beef Wellington for New Years and posted a picture – they were gorgeous. I sent it to my son and said he was just showing off LOL.
