Beef Bourguignon

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Ingredients:

▪ 3½ lb (1½ kg) beef chuck, lg chunks

▪ salt

▪ 30 g (2 Tbsp) olive oil

▪ 750 ml (3 c) dry red wine

▪ 300 g (2 med) onions, rough chop

▪ 300 g (2) carrots, rough chop

▪ 150 g (2 stalks) celery, rough chop

▪ 1 head garlic, halved

▪ 4–5 sprigs thyme

▪ 2 bay leaves

▪ 900 g (3¾ c) beef stock

▪ 4 packs gelatin

▪ 15 g (1 Tbsp) tomato paste

▪ 20 g (1 Tbsp) BTB beef base

▪ 25 g (2 Tbsp) olive oil (for mushrooms)

▪ 275 g (10 oz) cremini mushrooms, quartered

▪ 300 g (2 med) carrots, sliced (for finish)

▪ mashed potatoes for serving

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 550F or as high as it will go. Cube up meat, cutting off large chunks of fat. Coat with a generous glug or two of olive oil and plenty of salt. Toss to coat, then place meat on a sheet tray. Broil on high in the oven for 10-15min then remove from oven. 

2. Peel and roughly chop onion, 1 carrot, and celery. Add bottle of wine to large heavy bottomed pot over high heat and add in onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and herbs and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook for 15-20min. Reduce oven heat to 300f and add 1500g beef stock, tomato paste, and demi glace. 

3. With heat off, place a doubled layer of cheesecloth over your large pot and place been chunks on top of cheesecloth. Pour water into sheet tray and use a wooden spoon to scrape up as much fond as possible and add that into the pot. Tuck cheese cloth into pot and around beef, heat over med-high until simmering, then cover, and cook in the oven at 300F/148C for about 3 hours. Check the progress after about 2 hours, remove the lid and continue to cook for another 45min-1hour. When meat is braised properly it should be fork tender, but not completely falling apart. Allow to pot to cool slightly on the counter before placing in the fridge to cool completely. 

4. After cooled (i usually allow it to sit overnight), skim off as much fat as possible. Reheat the pot over medium heat to re-liquify. Once melted, remove beef from braising liquid. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain out and separate all solids from your braising liquid, making sure to squeeze out liquid from cheesecloth and veg. Skim off any excessive fat. 

5. Add strained liquid back into pot and heat to a simmer over medium high to reduce for about 45min or until thickened. Dissolve gelatine into 2 cups beef stock and add to braising liquid. When braising liquid is reduced by ⅔ add carrots and continue to cook for about 15 more minutes. 

6. Preheat nonstick pan over med-high heat. Add in olive oil (about 25g or generous squeeze) and add mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Cook for about 12 minutes over medium heat. Once golden brown, add mushrooms into braising liquid. 

7. When liquid is reduced to about 20% of it’s original volume and bubbles are becoming large, add beef back to braising liquid, spooning sauce over meat as it warms. Cook for 10 more minutes to continue reducing by about 5-10% more. 

8. Serve beef, carrots, mushrooms and sauce over smashed potatoes.