Week 47: Boeuf Bourguignon

The Recipe
175g bacon, chopped
900g lean braising steak, e.g. rump steak, cut into 2.5cm cubes (in Danish: tyksteg el. cuvette/culotte)
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp oil
12 shallots, peeled but left whole
2-4 garlic cloves, chopped
175g mushrooms, quartered
450ml red wine
150m beef stock
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs each of fresh thyme, parsley and marojam, tied together
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Mix flour, salt and pepper in a bag. Add the beef and toss until coated.

Over medium-high heat, cook the bacon in a large, ovenproof casserole, until golden brown. Remove bacon from pot and put aside. Add the butter to the pot and brown the beef in batches. Set aside with the bacon.

Add the oil to the fat remaining in the pot. Cook the shallots and garlic until fragrant and just starting to turn brown. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the wine and give it a good stir, to loosen up all the brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Return the beef and bacon to the pot and stir in the beef stock. Add the herbs and bring to a boil.

Cover and cook in the oven for ~1.5hrs. Season to taste and serve with mashed potatoes and some green beans.

The Verdict
SO good! No doubt a good part of that was due to the high quality of the meat and wine (we didn't just get the cheapest), but this recipe was so ridiculously easy that nobody could mess it up :-D Getting everything prepared took a tad longer than expected, but I'd still consider it a really good dish to make for company, because of it's long cooking time, where it really can just be left alone. Might be worth while to try to adapt it for the crock pot as well.