Beef Bourguignon

Beef Bourguignon (French: Bœuf bourguignon) is a well-known, traditional French recipe. It is essentially a stew prepared with beef braised in Burgundy (because bourguignon means "of Burgundy", hence the literal translation is beef burgundy) and beef broth, generally flavored with garlic, onions, carrots, and a bouquet garni(French for "garnished bouquet," it is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, and various stews.) The bouquet is removed prior to consumption, and the finished stew is garnished with pearl onions and mushrooms. Traditionally the meat was larded with Bacon or Salt pork or Pancetta, but modern beef is sufficiently tender and well marbled that this very time-consuming technique is rarely used anymore. However, bacon cut into small cubes is still used to produce the initial cooking fat and added to the dish at the end.

Beef Bourguignon

Pour yourself one glass of wine and get together some o' this:

• 1 lb beef chuck or round, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 tbsp shortening
• 1 c chopped green pepper
• 1 c chopped celery
• 1 clove garlic, sliced paper thin so it will dissolve into the sauce
• 1 can tomato soup + 1 can water
• 2/3 c good california burgundy wine (If this is not an option you can use any red wine you can procure. Just remember, when cooking with wine, the better the wine, the better the dish. Use the most expensive wine you can afford to cook with.)
• 1/2 c green olives, with pimientos
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp thyme
• zest of one half lemon

Pour yourself a second glass of wine and do this:

• Brown beef in shortening.
• Add veggies and cook till they brown.
• Mix in soup, water, wine, olives, seasonings and lemon zest.
• Simmer, covered, one hour, stirring occasionally.

Pour third glass of wine and serve it up with a big loaf of crusty bread! MMMmmmmm....(hic!)

Bœuf bourguignonne, a dish from Burgundy in France, is not only delicious, but very easy to make! It's basically beef and onions sautéed in wine.

Ingredients

• Steak (I recommend just using whatever type you like best)
• A couple onions
• Salt
• Pepper
• Basil
• Olive oil or canola oil
• A sweet wine -- Marsala works well

As always, be inventive.

Procedure

Chop up the onions. Put some oil in the pan, turn to high heat. Cook until the onions turn golden-brown. Put in the steak. Season with salt, pepper, and basil on both sides. Sauté. You'll want to brown the outside and of course heat up the inside. How much depends on how done you like your steak. I won't get into that. Anyway, don't do it all the way because you'll want to plonk on your wine. And you'll want that to have a bit of time to cook out the alcohol (no matter how cool this may sound to you, it tastes terrible and steak isn't a great way to get drunk anyway). Let this all cook for a bit more, and taste. If you think it's ready, serve it. Finger-licking good.

Of course this isn't the only way and there are far more complicated recipes, but I assure you this one is tasty.