Birthday Boeuf Bourguignon a la Boreegard

To celebrate his birthday, our own Mike O'Neil (aka Boreegard) makes his famous Beef Bourguignon. He sent me this email and shared his secret recipe. Happy Birthday Bo!

"I have made versions of boeuf a la bourguignonne (beef in the Burgundy style) over the years. One time following this recipe, and another time following that one. The classic Burgundian treatment calls for beef, small pieces of bacon, mushrooms, small onions, a red wine sauce and often an application of cognac, and not much else.

Today, my natal anniversary, I combined all the things that I liked from various recipes and threw in a few other things. Surrounded by immediate family (somehow my two year old grandchildren had learned the rudiments to a song called Happy Buthaday PawPaw), we ate this stuff in bowls on a bed of noodles as the temperature outside slid down to zero. It's really really good.

(note to hearty outdoorsmen types of the hunting variety: use venison instead of beef. I suppose you would be within your rights to call it Bambi Bourguignon.)"

INGREDIENTS

o 4 to 5 strips of bacon
o 2 tbsp olive oil
o 2 pounds stew beef cubed (chuck, bottom round, etc.)
o 1 onion or four large shallots chopped
o 4 cloves garlic chopped.
o 3 large blades of celery chopped
o 2 tbsp. flour
o 2 cups or half a bottle of red wine
o bay leaf
o chopped parsley
o ¾ tsp. dried thyme (or two tsp. fresh)
o salt and pepper
o 4 roma plum tomatoes, diced
o ½ pound mushrooms sliced
o cup of baby carrots or chopped carrots
o 1/3 cup of cognac

WHAT TO DO
The night before preparing this, marinate the meat in the wine. Refrigerate, and turn the meat several times for an even saturation. It will turn a charming purple.

o In a large frying pan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove and reserve the bacon and leave the drippings in the pan.
o add olive oil.
o pat the beef dry, and brown it in the oil and bacon drippings ,reserving the marinade.
o remove browned beef to plate and sauté shallots, garlic and celery (about five minutes).
o add the flour and stir for about a minute.
o add the marinade, beef, tomatoes, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, and crisp bacon—which you've crushed into fragments.
o cover, bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for an hour, stirring occasionally.
o add mushrooms, cover and simmer for ½ hour.
o add carrots and cognac and simmer, covered, for another half hour until beef is tender.

Boreegard / January 25, 2004 et redux January 25, ‘09