Beef Bourguinon

RECIPE BY: Chef Rachael, at Mountain Provedore

Mountain Provedore provides exceptional Catering and Take Home Meals for Daylesford, Hepburn and the surrounding area, see website for full details.

Prep: 1 hour / Cook: 4 hours  / Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 large carrots, peeled
• 4 pieces of osso bucco beef (slices of beef shin)
• 600g approx beef chuck (does not need to be cubed before you start this recipe)
• 50ml brandy (optional)
• 500ml dry red wine (we use a cabernet sauvignon)
• 1 litre of the best quality beef or veal stock you can afford, or even better, make your own!
• 1 bouquet garni – 2 bay leaves, 5 sprigs of time and parsley, rinsed and tied together with kitchen twine
• 200g piece of Istra keiserfleisch or speck, cut into rashers and then into 4mm lardons (strips)
• 3 portobello mushrooms, chopped into about 6 pieces each (keeping the stems on is ok!)
• 10 baby king oyster mushrooms
• Neutral vegetable oil (ideally not canola, our favourite is peanut)
• Salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper

To serve:

• Potatoes of your choice
• Veggies of your choice
• French baguettes

Method

This recipe can be made the day of serving, but it’s better made the day before.

1. Collect and prepare all your ingredients. (And read the whole recipe before you begin please chef!)
2. Season both types of beef with a small amount of salt and pepper. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of veg oil and the beef. Cook until the beef is nice and brown. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside to cool a little. Then using a sharp knife, chop the chuck into 3cm cubes. The osso bucco pieces can stay whole, they will cook down during the cooking process, and the bones and marrow (yum!) will add flavour.
3. Reduce the heat to low and add the kaiserfleisch lardons. Cook the lardons until the fat has rendered. You’re not aiming for crispy bacon, but instead to gently brown them. Remove from the pan and refrigerate.
4. Turn the heat back up to medium high and add your baby king oyster mushrooms and your carrot batons. Saute the king mushrooms and carrots until they have nice brown patches. Remove from the pan and refrigerate along with your kaiserfleisch lardons.
   The chopped carrot pieces and portobellos will disintegrate and become part of the overall sauce, while the carrots and baby king oysters will still be visible and have their own individual flavours when the whole dish is ready.
5. Add another tablespoon of veg oil to your pan. Reduce the heat to low and add the onion. Gently saute the onion until it starts to go a little crispy and a little transparent. Now add your garlic. Once the garlic is becoming fragrant, add the chopped carrot and portobello mushroom pieces you set aside earlier.
   Saute everything – onions, garlic, carrots and portobellos – until its all starting to go a little bit soft and has developed caramelised brown bits.
   If at any point you burn anything, don’t worry. Simply discard any really burnt bits (they will add an unpleasant bitterness to your end dish), and start with a new saucepan. No stress chef!
6. Now is the fun part. With the onions, garlic, carrots and portobelllos still in the pan, make sure the heat is pretty high. Add the brandy and wine and as it all splashes and hisses, scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a large spoon. (This is called deglazing!)
7. Return the beef (both chuck and osso bucco) and any meat juices to the pot that has the onions, garlic, carrots, portobellos, and alocohol in it. Add the beef stock and the kaiserfleisch rind. Add just a tiny bit of water to the mix n the pot if necessary to make sure everything is covered. Bring the mix to the boil, then reduce the heat to as low as it will go. Cook for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
   If you’re cooking this the day before serving, remove the pot from the heat now, allow to cool at room temperature for about half an hour, then place in the fridge.
8. In the mean time or the next day, make your other items. Roast your potatoes or cook them in cream to make dauphoise. Blanch your green beans and cook them in brown butter. Or roast your brussel sprouts and season them with freshly cracked black pepper.
9. After about 4 hours, or when the beef is well cooked (it will be melt in your mouth tender), remove it from the pot.
   Increase the heat to high to reduce the stock/sauce. Remove the kaiserfleisch rind and discard. After about half an hour of bubbling, add the beef back in, as well as the lardons, baby king mushrooms, and carrot batons. Check the seasoning, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Allow everything to get nice and hot, and then you’re ready to serve!

Bon appetit!

Chef Rachael brings 10 years of culinary excellence to her catering and take home meal business, Mountain Provedore. You can follow her cooking on Facebook (search Mountain Provedore) and on instagram @mountainprovedore