the most complicated (and delicious) beef bourgignon you’ll ever make

I had my parents over for Christmas Eve dinner, and wanted to make something special for them.  Those of you who know me well, also know that I really love adding extra steps to recipes, to maximize depth of flavor.  My co-worker had been talking about making beef bourgignon for a dinner party a few weeks ago, and I decided to follow suit.  She had used Ina Garten’s recipe, and I used that one as a base, adapting it with parts of the mushroom bourgignon recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  What you end up with is a beef bourgignon that’s totally worth the half-day’s work that goes into it: satisfying and warming, with a depth of flavor that you only get when you take your time.  It better be, with two bottles of wine and two pounds of mushrooms packed in there in addition to the beef!

To discuss the recipe a little more, I knew I wanted to double the Ina Garten recipe, but it had no mushrooms and doubling it would call for two bottles of wine.  Knowing the limitations of the size of my dutch oven, I split the recipe into two parts, beef and mushrooms, and devoted a bottle of wine to each part.  I also didn’t want to overcook the mushrooms, so I took a cue from Thomas Keller and cooked them separately from the beef (the carrots in the beef were pretty soft by the time they came out of the oven, and the onions basically turned into mush – delicious mush!).   Splitting the beef from the mushrooms also allowed me to get more of the beef stock into the finished dish, primarily through the reduced wine-stock mixture.   By the way, a lot of recipes call for actual tomatoes, but I thought the tomato paste worked well – you get the tomato flavor without the extra liquid, which allows you more space for wine!

If you wanted to take a shortcut, all I can really tell you is that you could probably skip the roux.  I thought I would need it, but in fact, after I added it, I ended up stirring in some water to thin the sauce back out.  You could probably also skip the bacon – I didn’t feel like it really added a significant amount of depth to the dish, since you’re primarily getting the savory flavors from the beef, mushrooms, and wine.  But really, this isn’t that hard to make – all you need is more than two pots and pans, and several hours to cook at a leisurely pace.  Serve this with mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.  I would probably recommend egg noodles or rice, since the beef bourgignon is plenty rich on its own.

I just ate a bowl of the leftovers with rice, and I can tell you it tastes even better the next day.

best beef bourgignon ever

for the beef
3/4 lb bacon, diced
2-3T olive oil
5 lbs boneless short ribs, cut into 3″ long pieces (2-3 pieces per short rib), trimmed of large pieces of fat (reserve the trimmings)
2 large onions, diced
4-6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1″-long pieces
1/2 head garlic, minced
1/2 package thyme, stripped from stems
1 can tomato paste
1 bottle red wine
2 cups beef stock

for the mushrooms
1/3 short rib trimmings (choose the pieces with more traces of meat on them)
1/2 head garlic, minced
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4″ rounds
1/2 package thyme, stripped from stems
2 lbs mushrooms (I used a mix of fresh crimini, chanterelles, and shiitakes)
1 bottle red wine
6 cups beef stock
1 oz dried porcini mushrooms

for the roux
4T butter
1/2 – 1c flour

1. In a large dutch oven, fry the bacon on medium-high heat until the bacon is browned at the edges and has rendered most of its fat. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain; leave the rendered fat in the dutch oven. (Incidentally: if you can’t chop the bacon with your knife, it’s time to get it sharpened.) Turn the heat to medium-high and add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the dutch oven. When the olive oil is shimmering, sear the short ribs in batches, on both sides (about 3-5 minutes per side) – don’t overcrowd them, or they’ll steam instead of sear. A splatter screen is helpful here. Transfer the seared short ribs to a large bowl and tent with foil.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250F. Back on the stove, turn the heat to medium, and add the onions, carrots, garlic, and thyme. Try and scrape up the browned bits from the pan, but you’ll eventually be adding liquid, so don’t worry if you can’t get them all. Cook until the vegetables have softened slightly, about 10-15 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine, then cook 5 minutes more. Add the bacon back into the pot and stir to combine, then add the short ribs. Pour the wine into the pot, and then add beef stock until the short ribs are covered. Your pot will probably be very full unless you have the larger dutch oven (mine is the smaller 5-quart one). Give the pot some careful stirs to get everything mixed a little bit. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then put the lid on and pop it in the oven for the next four hours. (Yes, four hours: less time won’t dissolve all of the connective tissues, which are plentiful in short ribs; more time will dry out the meat.)

3. While the beef is in the oven, heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the beef trimmings and sear them until browned (this will take a few minutes), flipping the pieces over to get more seared surface area. Add the garlic, carrots, and thyme and cook until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Pick out the beef trimmings and discard. Add the mushrooms and cook until their liquid has been released and evaporates, about 10 minutes more. Remove the pan from the stove and reserve the mixture in the skillet for later.

4. In a heavy-bottomed, 2-quart saucepan, combine 1 bottle of wine and 2 cups of the beef stock. Bring to a boil and reduce until only 1/3 of the original volume remains (the wine will leave rings on the pan as it reduces, so you should be able to tell), about 45 minutes. Add the remaining 4 cups of beef stock and dried porcini mushrooms and return to a boil, reducing the mixture to about 2 cups – it should be a syrupy at that point.

5. Add the reduced wine mixture to the mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and simmer until the mushrooms have taken on the color of the wine mixture. Turn the heat off.

6. When the beef is done, remove from the oven and transfer to the stovetop.  Skim off any collected fat (I had about 1/4 cup).  Transfer the short ribs from the pot to a large bowl with a pair of tongs, then bring the sauce in the pot to a boil and reduce until thickened slightly, about 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, make the roux in a small saucepan: melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter starts foaming, add the flour and stir to combine. If your mixture is shiny with butter, add a little more flour. Saute the mixture for a few minutes (this cooks the flour so your sauce won’t taste like uncooked flour), then stir into the reduced sauce. Stir quickly to make sure the roux dissolves and doesn’t clump. Add the mushroom mixture and stir to combine, then add the short ribs back into the pot (it should fit, just barely, into a 5-quart dutch oven). Turn the heat off and serve immediately over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.

[serves 10-12]