I love slow cooked Beef bourguignon! It’s one of my favorite comfort foods and my family’s too. Whenever I make Beef bourguignon it’s a double batch to ensure we have leftovers because it’s even better the next day!
This particular recipe is one of those no fail recipes.
I’m Not A Natural Cook
I remember when Netflix first came out and I was renting DVD’s after awhile I ran out of movies I wanted to watch and stumbled upon Julia Child DVD’s. I remember watching Julia with my Mom and Grandma on PBS. Mom did a wicked Julia imitation. So I remember one DVD of Julia each week.
I swear that’s how I learned to cook. If you ask my husband he will tell you I was not a very good cook when we were first married. Then Julia made me feel like I could cook with her tips. She had such a calming influence when it came to cooking.
Made It My Own
This is not exactly Julia’s recipe. Over the years I’ve adapted the recipe to be a little less fussy while retaining all the flavor that makes Beef Bourguignon a family favorite.
I’m going to give you details on how to make this in the oven, and adapt it for the slow cooker, and a pressure cooker like an Instapot. I’ve used all three methods and it’s wonderful.
Let’s Make Beef Bourguignon!
First gather all your ingredients:
- 1/2 a pound of Bacon
- 3 pounds of Beef Stew Meat
- 2 carrots
- 1 large white sweet onion
- 2 cups Red wine (I use Merlot)
- 32 Ounces of beef stock
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
- bay leaf 1 large or 2 small
- mushrooms 1 pound
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3 tablespoons of flour
To make this on the stove you’ll want to use a dutch oven. My mother-in-law gave me this lovely dutch oven for my birthday and it’s one of my favorite cooking pots. It can go from the stove top to the oven and back. I love it!
If you’re making this in a crockpot you will need a frying pan to do the browning. If you’re using a pressure cooker (I use the Crockpot Pressure Cooker) you can use the sauté/brown function.
The first time I ever made this recipe it called for lardons. What is a lardon? I was perplexed. Turns out lardon’s are just bacon cut into match sticks. To make cutting the bacon easier I always freeze the bacon and cut the frozen strips, but you can do it your own way. This recipe needs half a pound of bacon.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to your pan. Brown the bacon sticks (aka – Lardons) in your pot if you’re using a slow cooker brown them in a frying pan.
Use a slotted spoon to removed the browned bacon and set it aside. If you’re using a crockpot you can put them in your crockpot so you don’t dirty an extra dish.
In the same pot add the beef in small batches and brown the meat. Here’s some Helpful Hints on browning meat 1) use a paper towel to dry the meat & 2) do not crowd the pan. It takes a little extra time to do it right but you’ll be happy you took that time.
Once all the meat is brown use a slotted spoon to remove the beef and set it aside.
Again, in the same pan (it’s all those amazing drippings that are giving you the flavor) brown the carrots and onions together. The smell is going to start being amazing. I sometimes just cook carrots and onions together as a side dish now. They so good together.
Once you’ve sweated the onions (about 3 minutes) remove them from the pan and set them aside. Don’t mix them with the meat because we have more to do with the meat first.
I use a mandolin slicer to make sure all my pieces are the same thickness. A mandolin was one of the best investments I’ve ever made. It makes short work of meal prep.
Coat the meat with 3 tablespoons of flour. Add it back to the pan along with 1 tablespoon of butter and saute for about 3 minutes. You are just cooking the flour. There’s nothing worse than a raw flour taste.
Here’s were I might be courting controversy. I brown the mushroom’s at this point.
Add two tablespoons of butter to a paint and brown the mushrooms. Because mushrooms are sponges that are full of water once you heat them they shrink down to less than half their size.
The controversy comes in because some cooks say not to add the mushrooms until the last hour. I like mine to cook with the rest of the stew.
I know, I’m a rebel.
Time to Bring It All Together
Add the full 32 ozs of beef broth to your pot, pressure cooker or crockpot.
Add your wine. Full disclosure here, I usually add the whole bottle. Today I left enough so I could have a glass of wine with dinner tonight.
When you’re choosing a wine here’s a Helpful Tip I learned from Julia, if you wouldn’t drink it; don’t cook with it. I’ve read other bloggers who say they just add cheap wine but believe me it flavor matters. If you like the wine you’ll like the stew. If you don’t like the wine you won’t like the stew. I choose Bogle because I like it. If you like Chianti you can use that. I like a spicier wine and not a sweet wine for this dish but you do you!
It’s time to add the tomato paste.
Add the garlic and all the other spices.
Stir well.
It’s time to slow cook the beef bourguignon all day (Unless you’re pressure cooking it) put it in an oven preheated to 350 degrees or put your crockpot on low for 6-8 hours.
If you’re using the oven after two hours you can bring the oven temp down to 270 degrees and cook for another 4 hours. Check to make sure your liquid isn’t boiling away. You just want to simmer this dish. If it seems to be getting dry add more beef stock.
Pressure Cooker Adaption
Set your pressure cooker to high for 45 minutes. Allow the pressure to release for naturally for 10 minutes.
I like to serve mine with boiled potatoes. I’m fond of the baby spuds but you can cut and boil Idaho potatoes if you wish. You can also serve Beef Bourguignon over noodles which is amazing.
Leftovers can be frozen and reheated them with great success. You can make this the day before and keep it in the fridge if you want. It tastes even better reheated the second day in my opinion. All the flavors really have a chance to combine.
Can I Ask A Favor?
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Are you looking for a new recipe that is amazing in the crockpot? Check out one of my favorite new recipes for Aces & Eights Corn Chowder. You can always wash this down with Sun Tea!
Many blessings to you!
~S
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