GLWhiskeyKitchen

Dinner · · By Ashley

The “Bourdain Refined” Beef Bourguignon

Bourdain’s rustic Les Halles foundation, finished with my own demi-glace, jammy shallots and a sauce that shines like a mirror.

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Prep
25 min
Cook
2 hr 55 min
Total
3 hr 20 min
Serves
6
Level
Medium
Beef bourguignon with carrots and glossy red wine sauce in a well of creamy mashed potatoes, topped with parsley

Where the time goes

3 hr 20 min, mostly waiting

  • Hands-on
  • Hands-off
  1. 01Hands-onCube the beef and prep the vegetables25 min
  2. 02Hands-onRender the bacon and sear the beef28 min
  3. 03Hands-onOnions, shallots, garlic and tomato paste13 min
  4. 04Hands-onToast the flour and deglaze5 min
  5. 05Hands-offBraise, covered · make the purée meanwhile2 hr to 2 hr 30 min
  6. 06Hands-onCold butter finish2 min
  7. 07Hands-onAssemble5 min

The story

This blends Anthony Bourdain’s rustic foundation from the Les Halles Cookbook with my own upgrades: my home-crafted roasted beef bone demi-glace, sweet jammy shallots, and an ultra-luxurious potato purée underneath.

The sliced onions melt completely into the gravy and turn the wine into a thick, glossy glaze, while the halved shallots hold their shape and go buttery-soft.

I serve it on my Bone-Stock Sifted Potato Purée: Yukon Golds boiled in beef stock, pushed through a fine sifter and whipped with butter at a 2:1 ratio. Start it while the beef braises.

  • A low side view of the bourguignon bowl, the sauce pooling around a swirl of potato purée
    Glossy sauce and tender beef in a well of sifted purée.

Ingredients

Serves 6

Tap an ingredient to check it off.

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done.

  1. Render and hard-sear the beef

    Pat the beef completely dry with paper towels and season every side heavily with salt and pepper. In a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, then lift it out with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Turn the heat to high and sear the beef in the hot bacon fat in small batches until every side has a deep, dark brown crust. Move it to a plate.

    Dry beef is what makes the crust. Don’t crowd the pot, or the cubes steam instead of sear.

  2. Caramelize the aromatics and shallots

    Drop the heat to medium. Add the sliced onions and halved shallots and cook for 10 minutes, until they soften, turn translucent and soak up the bacon drippings. Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir constantly for 3 minutes, pressing the paste against the bottom of the pot until it darkens to a deep brick red.

  3. Toast the flour and deglaze

    Dust the flour evenly over the onions and shallots and stir for 2 minutes to toast out the raw starch taste. Pour in the whole bottle of wine and scrape hard with a wooden spoon to lift all the dark caramelized bits (the fond) from the bottom. Boil hard for 3 minutes to burn off the sharp edge of the alcohol.

  4. The demi-glace braise

    Return the beef, the bacon and any resting juices to the pot. Add the carrots, bouquet garni, water and demi-glace. Bring it back to a boil, then turn the heat to its lowest setting, cover tightly and simmer quietly for 2 to 2½ hours.

    This is the time to make the potato purée.

  5. Swirl the velvet finish

    Turn the heat off and fish out the bouquet garni. While the stew is hot but no longer bubbling, drop in the 3 tbsp of ice-cold butter and stir gently in wide circles.

    Off the heat, the cold butter emulsifies into the wine and demi-glace reduction instead of melting into oil. That is what makes the sauce smooth and glossy.

  6. Serve

    Spoon a wide, silky bed of the bone-stock purée into each bowl and push a deep well into the center with the back of the spoon. Fill it with the beef, carrots, jammy shallots and plenty of sauce, and finish with parsley.

Things worth knowing

  • Like most braises, it is even better the next day. Reheat gently, then do the cold butter finish just before serving.

Credits and sources

Ingredients · 3 hr 20 min · Serves 6

  • 2.5 lbsboneless beef chuck roast
  • 4 stripsthick-cut bacon
  • 4 largeshallots
  • 4 largeyellow onions
  • 6 mediumcarrots
  • 2 tbsptomato paste
  • 2 tbspall-purpose flour
  • 1 bottle (750 ml)dry red Burgundy wine
  • 1½ cupswater
  • 4 tbspSignature Roasted Demi-Glace
  • 4 clovesgarlic
  • 1bouquet garni
  • 3 tbspunsalted butter
  • kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • fresh flat-leaf parsley

Filed under

More dinner
  • Soups
    A crock of French onion soup under a bubbling, browned cheese crust, a glass of beer behind it

    Bourdain-Inspired French Onion Soup

    Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles onion soup, made heartier with dark beef stock, bacon and a little flour, finished with bourbon and cold butter whisked in at the end.

    2 hr 10 min · Medium

  • Dinner
    A white bowl of silky, swirled potato purée scattered with chives

    Bone-Stock Sifted Potato Purée

    Yukon Golds boiled in beef stock, pushed through a fine sifter and whipped with butter at a 2:1 ratio and a splash of cream. Made to sit under my beef bourguignon.

    55 min · Medium

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