I found this Beouf Borguignon recipe in an old issue of Wine Magazine and am reproducing it without any form of consent from them.   The recipe was published by Anna Trapido and I cannot put any claim to it.  It is however, a remarkable dish which produced food above any expectation we had.   Try it, it’s worth it.

Serves 3

Preparation time approximately 3 hours

Ingredients

For the meat

170g uncut bacon – we substituted pancetta, which will raise costs a tad, but is worth it.  Get it from Giovanni’s in Green Point (just be careful you don’t do as my other half and run up a bill of almost R200 for 2 slices!)

1 table spoon olive oil

750g cubed stewing beef

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 tea spoon salt

Pinch of black pepper

2.5 table spoons flour

1 bottle pinot noir – obviously a bit of an extravagance.  We opted for the 2 Oceans Pinot Noir, which retails for R32 or so a bottle.  It would be sacrilege to use a HRV or Tete de Cuvee on this.

500 ml beef stock

1 table spoon tomato paste

2 garlic cloves crushed

1 sprig thyme

1 bay leaf

Onions

15 small onions, peeled

1.5 table spoon butter

2 table spoon olive oil

125 ml beef stock

Salt and black pepper

Mushrooms

250 g mushrooms, quartered

2 table spoon butter

1 table spoon olive oil

Meat prep:

Pre heat oven to 160°C

Cut the bacon/pancetta into 1 cm blocks

In a deep (ish) casserole dish, heat the olive oil and braise the bacon/pancetta till golden brown.  Use a slatted spoon and take the bacon/pancetta off, but leave the fat and oil in the dish.  Put aside the bacon for later.

Brown the beef in the fat and oil left over and again take the meat off the left over fat and oil and put aside.

Sauté the onion and carrot in the oil and fat

Once the onion and carrot is ready, pour off the fat and oil.  Then add the bacon and beef together with the veg.

Add the rest of the ingredients for the meat, including the stock and wine, ensuring that everything is mixed through.  Bring to a boil.

Put a cover on the casserole dish and stuff it in the oven for 2 and a half hours

Onion and mushroom prep:

Approximately 25 minutes before the meat is ready, add the butter and olive oil for the onions together in a deep pan and melt.

Add the onions and braise till golden.
Add the stock and salt and pepper and let simmer till the onions are cooked through, tender but still keeping their shape.
Set aside

In a second pan, add the butter and oil and melt.  Sauté the mushrooms till ready.

Open the casserole dish and enjoy the smell of the beautifully rich dish.  The actual recipe calls for a straining of the sauce to separate out the veg and tells you to throw it away.  I fail to see the point.  Check your sauce consistency – it should be slightly thick.  If it’s too runny, add some more flour, but be careful it doesn’t clot.

 

Add the onions and mushrooms to the meat, and stir through.

Serve with a decent Pinot Noir (here you can crack open the HRV or Tete de Cuvee) and enjoy a taste of homemade French cuisine. We tucked into a bottle of Danie de Wet’s Nature in Concert Pinot Noir 2007 – a rather grand yet beautifully elegant wine.   Lovely fine and supple tannins, with lots of red fruit (think strawberry and raspberry.

Enjoy