Boeuf Bourguignon

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg beef chuck or shin, cut into 5cm cubes
• 200g smoked streaky bacon or pancetta, in one piece
• 1 bottle (750ml) dry red Burgundy or other Pinot Noir
• 500ml beef stock
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, cut into thick coins
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, 4 thyme sprigs, 6 parsley stalks, tied)
• 300g pearl onions or small shallots, peeled
• 300g button mushrooms, halved if large
• 60g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, to finish

Before you cook

• Cut the bacon into short thick batons about 1cm wide.
• Pat the beef cubes completely dry with kitchen paper and season them generously with salt and pepper.
• Tie the bay leaves, thyme and parsley stalks into a bouquet garni with kitchen string.
• Drop the pearl onions into just-boiled water for one minute so the skins slip off easily, then peel them.
• Chop the onions and carrots and crush the garlic.

Steps

1. Put a large casserole over medium heat, add one tablespoon of oil and the bacon batons, and fry for eight minutes until the fat has rendered and the edges are crisp.
2. Lift the bacon out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, leaving every drop of fat behind in the pot.
3. Turn the heat to high and lay in a third of the beef in a single uncrowded layer.
4. Sear that batch for about three minutes a side until each face is deeply browned.
5. Move the browned beef to the plate with the bacon.
6. Brown the remaining beef in two more batches, adding a little more oil each time.
7. Drop the heat to medium, tip in the chopped onions and carrots, and cook for eight minutes until softened and lightly coloured.
8. Stir in the garlic and tomato puree and cook for one minute more.
9. Return the beef and bacon to the pot, scatter over the flour, and stir for two minutes so the flour toasts and coats everything.
10. Pour in the wine, bring it to a boil, and scrape the base of the pot hard with a wooden spoon to lift the browned crust.
11. Add the stock and the bouquet garni, topping up with water if the meat is not just covered.
12. Heat the oven to 150C fan.
13. Bring the pot to a bare simmer, put the lid on, and slide it into the oven for three hours.
14. Melt half the butter in a frying pan over medium-low heat, add the pearl onions with the sugar and a pinch of salt, and cook for fifteen minutes, shaking the pan often, until they are golden and tender.
15. Tip the glazed onions into a bowl and set them aside.
16. Add the rest of the butter to the same pan, raise the heat, and fry the mushrooms for six minutes until browned.
17. Take the casserole out of the oven and check the beef with a fork, which should meet no resistance.
18. Return the pot to the oven for another thirty minutes if the meat is still firm.
19. Set the casserole over medium heat on the hob and fish out the bouquet garni.
20. Stir the glazed onions and mushrooms into the stew and simmer uncovered for fifteen minutes so the sauce reduces and thickens.
21. Tilt the pot and spoon off any fat that pools at the surface.
22. Taste and add salt and pepper until the sauce tastes bright rather than flat.
23. Scatter with parsley and serve with boiled potatoes or plenty of bread.