beef bourguignon stew

Ingredients

3 pounds beef chuck meat

¼ cup all-purpose flour, plus more if needed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small yellow onion

4 garlic cloves

¼ cup tomato paste

2 cups low-sodium beef stock (or BTB + water-see page

21), plus more if needed

1½ cups pinot noir or other dry red wine

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 thyme sprigs, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 dried bay leaves

1 pound baby gold potatoes

8 ounces cremini (baby bella) or white mushrooms

2 large carrots

12 ounces frozen pearl onions

½ bunch parsley

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2. Cut the beef into 2-inch cubes and place it in a large Dutch oven. Sprinkle with the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and a lot of pepper. Toss to coat the beef well.

3. Roughly chop the onion and finely chop the garlic and add them, too. Add the tomato paste, stock, wine, Worcestershire, mustard thyme, and bay leaves. Stir everything to combine, then cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook the stew, undisturbed, for 2 hours.

4. Meanwhile, halve the potatoes and mushrooms. Cut the carrots into 1-inch pieces. Stir the potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and pearl onions into the stew, then return the pot, covered, to the oven and cook for another hour, until the beef and potatoes are fork-tender.

5. Meanwhile, chop the parsley leaves and tender stems.

6. Remove the pot from the oven. Use tongs to fish out and discard the bay leaves and thyme stems from the stew. Stir in a big handful of chopped parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed. If you want your stew to be brothier, stir in more beef stock. If you want it to be thicker, stir together 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth; stir this into the soup and simmer over medium- low heat until thickened to your liking.

7. Spoon the stew into bowls and generously sprinkle each serving with parsley.

Notes

extra extra Instead of stirring the mushrooms into the pot, cook them separately in a pan with 2 tablespoons of butter over medium- high heat. When they're tender, stir in 1 minced garlic clove before serving.

swa Instead of wine, you can use really good-quality vinegar + water in these proportions: ½ cup red wine, sherry, or apple cider vinegar + 1½ cups water, or ¼ cup balsamic vinegar + 1¾

cups water.

bulk it up i like this stew with crusty bread or garlic bread (see Extra Extra, page 219), but to make it more classically beef bourguignon, serve it over mashed potatoes or

buttered noodles.

shortcut if you think roasting the onions and mushrooms separately Is

kind of annoying, you can just add them both to the pot for the final hour of cook time. It'll totally work, but the flavor and

texture will not be "quite* as good.