Classic Beef Bourguignon

Ingredients

4 portions

• Beef shin pre-soaked in red wine (see below) for 12 hours 600g
• Inexpensive red Bordeaux wine around half a bottle
• Olive oil 50ml
• Onion 100g
• Carrot 100g
• Celery sticks 75g
• Leek 100g
• Cloves of garlic 2
• Sprig fresh thyme 1
• Bay leaf 1
• Seasoning salt and pepper
• Beef stock to cover

Garnish

• Cooked bacon lardons 150g
• Button mushrooms, cooked 150g
• Parsley, chopped 2tsp

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
• Remove the meat from the wine. Trim the beef shin of all fat and sinew, and cut into 2.5 cm-thick rounds. Save the wine for later in the dish.

• Heat a little oil in a thick-bottomed pan and seal/ brown the skin. Place in a large ovenproof dish.

• Peel and trim the vegetables as appropriate, then add them to the pan that the beef has just come out of and gently brown the edges. Then place this, along with the garlic and herbs, in the ovenproof dish with the meat.

• Add the red wine to the casserole pan and cook for five minutes to burn off the alcohol, then pour in enough stock to cover the meat and vegetables. Bring to the boil, then cook in the oven preheated to 180 °C for 40 minutes; after that, turn the oven down to 90–95 °C and cook for a further 4 hours until tender.

• Remove from the oven and allow the meat to cool in the liquor. When cold, remove any fat. Reheat gently at the same temperature to serve.
• Heat the garnish elements separately and sprinkle over each portion. Serve with a mound of mashed potato, wilted spinach and buttered green beans. Finish the whole dish with chopped parsley.

Phil’s top tip Shallow fry the beef in hot oil to brown it all over, but do not let it boil in the oil. Then allow it to stew gently in the red wine Variation other joints of beef can be used here; beef or veal cheek can be used, reducing the time for the veal.