Recipe: Beef Burgundy

Beef Burgundy was the first grown up recipe I ever mastered. I was a young struggling college student and was looking for an inexpensive but impressive recipe to make for my friends. By making Beef burgundy you can make a small amount of inexpensive beef taste delicious.

Many years later I find that I like to still make Beef Burgundy because I am trying to eat less meat and eat more vegetables. Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same!

I have made this recipe with everything from ordinary beef stew meat to fillet mignon. The fillet mignon was overkill; this is a recipe that requires a tougher meat that can withstand the cooking time. I use the pearl onions if I can find them but I find that a yellow onion works as well for flavor but you lose the presentation aspects that the small pearl onions provide. The quality of the bacon is important as it flavors the whole dish; get real smoked give the smoked nitrate free bacon if you can find it.

I also like to add baby carrots for flavor. Use a heavier wine like a burgundy or cabernet sauvignon, nothing fancy just flavorful. Also use a low salt beef broth as the bacon already has a strong salt flavor.
This takes about 4 hours to cook down slowly on the stovetop. Nice dish to make on a lazy afternoon as it smells so good!

1 lb of beef stew meat
1 lb of mushrooms, cleaned but whole
1 lb of small pearl onions, cleaned and trimmed
1/2 lb of peeled baby carrots
64 oz of low sodium beef broth
375L of hearty red wine
2 pieces of bacon, crumbled
1 Tbl flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the bacon until crisp but not burned. Remove bacon and any bacon grease more than a tablespoon. Salt and pepper the beef and add the beef to the bacon grease and brown completely. Sprinkle the flour on the beef and stir the beef and flour combination until the flour is browned. Add the wine, crumbled bacon and beef broth. Stir to mix and then add the onions. Put a lid on the pot and put it on a low burner for two hours. Add the mushrooms and carrots and cook for at least another hour to 2 hours. Beef Burgundy turns a delicious dark reddish brown color when ready. Serve with potatoes, rice or noodles depending on your family’s preference.