I often cook with a bottle of wine, but rarely does it go in the cooking! But the other night we opened a bottle of red and it was not quite to our liking; it was a not a cheap wine we just didn’t fancy it. So what to do? Beef Bourguignon or Coq-au-vin? I thought I’d have a go at Beef Bourguignon. This is not really the classic recipe, but it does the job.
Ingredients:
- 3 tsp Olive Oil
- 600g shin beef, cut into large chunks or a supermarket ‘diced beef’.
- 100g smokey streaked bacon, sliced
- 350g Shallots, or Onions, peeled and sliced
- 250g mushrooms. Either use buttons or larger mushrooms cut into 2 or 4.
- 2 garlic clove, sliced
- ½ tsp mixed herbs or make a bouquet garni.
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 750ml bottle red wine. Traditionally Burgundy, but any will do, even the cheap plonk.
Method:
In a large casserole dish (one that can be used on hob and in oven), season the beef and then brown in off in about 5 minutes. Do it in batches if necessary. When browned, move the meat into a dish while we brown the other ingredients.
Add just a little more oil if necessary, fry the bacon and add the onions, colouring them slightly before adding the garlic and mushrooms. After a few minutes stir in the tomato purée and herbs. Cook for a few minutes to enrich the base and add the meat and any juices back in.
Pour in all the wine and about 100ml of water. Bring to the boil and ensure you scrape the bottom of the pan for any caramelised bits. Cover with a cartouche made from a disk of cooking foil (which is just slightly bigger than the diameter of the pan). Push the cartouche right over the liquid, but be careful as it’s boiling hot.
Cook for 3 hours. If at that time the sauce is too watery, remove the meat and veggies with a slotted spoon and thicken the sauce by boiling it on a high heat for a few minutes. Then re-add the meat and veggies and you should be ready to go.
Serve with some mashed potatoes.
It made a nice change to what we usually eat and everyone liked the tenderness of the beef and tasty juice.
