- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 2h 20 min
- Serving: 4 - 6 servings
I wanted to share my mother’s beef bourguignon (or beef burgundy) recipe—one of my favorite things she makes. It’s really actually a quite simple version that delivers fantastic results every time. I have tried many different bourguignon recipes throughout the years, but I find myself always coming back to this one.
I really love Julia Childs’s version, but it’s quite labor-intensive, and this one delivers almost the same result. The long cooking time makes the beef so tender, and enables the flavors to blend together perfectly. This is the perfect fall dish. It’s so comforting and satisfying—just like all of my mother’s food.
(This recipe was originally published here on 09/12/2012)
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Ingredients
- salt pork - 1/8 pound, diced fine
- onion - 1 large, chopped
- flour - 3 tbsp
- salt - 1/2 tsp
- pepper - 1/4 tsp
- stew beef - 2 pounds, cut into bite sized pieces
- marjoram - 1 tsp, dried
- rosemary - 1 tsp, dried
- bay leaves - 2
- red wine - 1 1/2 cups
- beef broth - 1 1/2 cups
- pearl onions - 20, trimmed and peeled
- mushrooms - 1/2 pound, quartered
how to
- Melt the salt pork over medium heat in a heavy Dutch oven or covered casserole. When crisp and golden, remove and drain on a paper towel lined plate.
- Add the chopped onions to the melted fat in the pan, and slowly cook them to a light golden brown. Remove and set aside.
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Mix the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate, and roll the meat in the mixture.
- Brown the beef, a few pieces at a time, and add the herbs, wine, and beef broth.
- Return the pork and onions to the pot and cover. Simmer for 1½ hours.
- Add the pearl onions and cook for an additional 20 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook for about 10 more.
- When the onions are fork-tender, the stew is done.
Could this be done in a slow cooker?
I am sure it could be, however I do not have the recipe written for it. I don’t use a slow cooker much. 🙁
And i meant to add 5 stars..for some reason, I am unable to 😣
Do you think it would be possible to substitute a different cut of meat? Unfortunately stew meat is too fatty for me since I had my gallbladder taken out. Thanks!
Sure. Just ask you butcher for something that can stand being cooked a long time and isn’t too fatty.
oops, I meant to say add salt after cooking , not “if” you add salt
What is salt pork? Is it uncured bacon?
Yeah, basically it’s not cured or smoked. It’s very much like bacon fat wise, but not the exact same flavor. If you can’t find it, you can use thick slab bacon in this recipe.
Can beef bacon be used? I don’t eat pork
Sure – absolutely. Mostly you want the fat and the flavor, I’m sure it will be delicious. 🙂
Bacon is pork. It’s made from pigs.
Kathy, salt pork is how people cured bacon in the early days for traveling west. I guess it was about then. You can find it in the grocery store it will be about three or four inches long, the rind will be attached at one end and there is very little lean meat in it as it mostly is the white fatty part of the bacon. It is excellent for making a pot of beans. It is the salt that cures it. When cooking it in a dish it gives a nice rich flavor but go easy on adding salt until the dish is finished cooking. BTW, foods like potatoes & other fresh vegetables where you will be eating the vegetable but not the liquid, if you add salt after cooking because salt leaches out the nutrients. If making a soup or a big pot of any dried bean to eat say with cornbread, then it is fine to add salt with any food where you’ll also be consuming the liqid. But it cooking potatoes or any vegetable where you don’t comsume the liquid, if the water has been salted, when you drain off the water, all of your nutrients just went down the drain.