Beef Boy-Yoy-Yoing (Boeuf Bourguignon)

Boeuf Bourguignon is the famous dish that convinced the Alfred Knopf publishing company to publish Mastering the Art of French cooking by Julia Child and her collaborators, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.  If you've seen the movie, Julie and Julia, you will recognize this dish immediately.

I love this dish.  It is a "set it and forget it" meal.  It isn't quick to make, but believe me the time is worth it.  And bonus...you don't have to babysit it too much while it cooks.  I have made it ahead of time and reheated it later, and it turned out great!  This recipe is adapted directly out of the Mastering the Art of French Cooking Cookbook.

Now the weird title: Beef Boy-Yoy-Yoing is a tribute to my crazy family.  When I first made it for them, they loved it, but had a little trouble with the french title.  So, in honor of them, I have renamed this dish for my blog as they affectionally call it Beef Boy-Yoy-Yoing.

Ingredients:

3 lbs lean stewing beef cut into 2" cubes (Rump Pot Roast, Chuck Pot Roast, Sirloin Tip, Top Round or Bottom Round)

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2" dice

1 yellow onion, sliced julienne

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp flour (for you gluten free folk, I have used both garbanzo bean flour and Better Batter all purpose flour, which works really well....don't use rice, or coconut flour as it makes the stew gritty)

1 bottle full-bodied young red wine (chianti, cotes du rhone, bordeaux, or a burgundy)

2-3 cups brown beef stock

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp thyme, or 3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

18-24 pearl onions braised in stock and butter (optional)

1 lb quartered fresh mushrooms sautéed in butter (optional)

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  In a large fireproof casserole dish with a lid (I use a Le Creuset), heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Dry the beef with paper towels as it won't brown if its damp.  Saute it a few pieces of a time until all sides are browned.  Remove beef from pan and repeat with the rest of the beef.

In the same olive oil (add more if needed), add the carrot and onion to brown the vegetables.  Return the beef to the pan.  Sprinkle flour over the top of the veggies and fat.  Place casserole dish into the oven uncovered for 4 minutes.  Remove from oven and toss veggies and meat and return to oven for another 4 minutes uncovered.  This is browning the flour and provides the meat and veggies with a bit of a crust.  Remove casserole dish from the oven and return to the stove.  Turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine and enough stock to cover all the meat.  Add tomato paste, garlic, and herbs to the pan.  Bring to a simmer on the stove.  Turn off the stove, cover the casserole and return to the oven covered.  This will braise in the oven for a total of 2-3 hours.  I check in every 30 minutes to stir the mixture and check the meat.  The meat is done when you can easily pierce it with a fork.

Remove the casserole out of the oven.  Scoop the meat and veggies out of the casserole out of the dish with a slotted spoon.  Place the casserole on the stove and heat to high heat.  Bring liquid to a boil and reduce the liquid until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.  If it has trouble thickening you can add a slurry of arrowroot (or cornstarch) to the liquid while it is boiling to thicken the sauce.  If it thickens too much, add 1-2 Tbsp of stock to the liquid to thin it out.  Turn down the temperature on the stove.  Add back the meat and veggies and toss to coat.  If you prepared pearl onions and/or mushrooms, add to the dish and toss to coat with sauce.  Serve immediately in the casserole dish atop creamy polenta, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, or mashed cauliflower.

If making ahead of time, refrigerate the completed casserole.  When ready to heat up, set on top of the stove for 20-30 minutes to heat up and then serve.