Another Family Favorite :)

Since my family is French Canadian, many of our traditional dishes come from our French heritage. French cooking is known for its culinary art and of course: its butter :). Being in Spain, this can be controversial... I know of a few people that do not know how to cook with butter or have never bought it! My mouth just dropped to the floor when they told me that; come on, some dishes do NOT have the same flavor and texture if cooked in oil. I am not an avid butter user but you do need it for certain recipes and for almost any dessert.

Ok, back to my family favorite. What else could it be than this simmering amazing stew called Boeuf Bourgignon :) The name alone brings water to my mouth. I had only done it a few times but this one really came out the best. I still give the credit to the pancetta I used instead of bacon or lard. It brought that tangy saltiness that was to die for. So here is my simple boeuf bourgignon recipe (I call it simple as it does not have so many steps as others).

Boeuf Bourgignon served with Garlic Egg Noodles

Ingredients:

500grs beef cubes
1/3 red wine bottle (bourgignon if you have, I used a good Spanish Rioja)
2 cups beef broth
100grs pancetta or bacon
500grs egg noodles
200grs mushrooms
100grs pearl onions (not easy to find here so I used regular sweet onion)
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove
4 tbsps butter
2 tbsps flour
1 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper
parsley
thyme
oil

Preheat your oven at 180C.

Cut the pancetta into small pieces. In a pot or dutch oven, add some oil and heat. When ready, brown the pancetta.

When it has browned, reserve and brown the meat pieces. Some people add salt and pepper but I prefer to not add the salt in order to keep the meat moist inside.

After about 10 minutes, remove the meat and reserve.

Add the wine to the pot while scrapping off the meat drippings at the bottom.

Bring to a boil and reduce for a few minutes.

Add the broth and spices (thyme, parsley and bay leaf).

Bring to a boil. When the broth is boiling, add the meat and pancetta. Adding the meat when the broth is boiling helps keep the moisture in the meat as it seals it off. Cover and cook in the oven for about 2 hours.

If the meat is super soft and breaks apart easily, you don't need to cook it more. If it is still hard, put it back in the oven, it will get soft at one point. So just keep on cooking it!

In a pan, add a bit of oil and heat.

Slice the onion or use your pearl onions. Add to the pan with a splash of water, the sugar and a bit of salt. Blanch for a few minutes. (obviously, the pearl onions need more cooking time than the regular onion)

When the onion is ready, remove from the pan and add the the stew.

Add 1 tbsp butter to the same pan, slice the mushroom and add to the butter when ready. Add some parsley, salt and pepper. Cook until tender.

Remove from the pan and add to the stew as well.

In a large pot, bring some water and salt to a boil. You can now cook your egg noodles as your stew is just about ready.

Now, the trick here is to make a nice roux in order to thicken the stew.

In the same sauce pan (I hate washing my dishes as you can see ;) ), add 2 tbsps of butter. When it has melted, add the flour and whisk well together. Cook it a little.

Now slowly, add some of the broth from the stew while whisking.

And there you have your roux. Add it to the stew and mix well.

To make sure the texture is perfect, bring it to a simmer on the stovetop. Helps the roux blend in perfectly and thicken up a bit more.

Drain your noodles and add a bit of butter (to taste, I added 1 tbsp), some parsley and some pressed garlic. Garlic butter egg noodles are the best!!

Mix well.

Serve the boeuf bourgignon on top of the egg noddles and there you have it. Full of great flavors blending in for the perfect match.

I served it with some cooked spinach to add some greens.

Here is a close-up of the stew.

Bon appétit à tous :)