Rise of the Peasant

I recently watched the folks at America’s Test Kitchen make Beef Burgandy[sic]. As usual they had some interesting ideas. I have huge respect for the chefs at Cooks’ Illustrated. They test exhaustively, explain their reasoning behind the tests, explain the test results, and eventually proffer a recipe that is economical in time, effort, cost, and equipment and yet is richly flavored — flavor is always in the front seat and if achieving great flavor requires a compromise somewhere in speed or ease, they make the compromise.

But all taste buds being uneven, their definition of perfect flavor sometimes doesn’t reflect mine (although it often does) so what most interests me in their recipes is the details of technique and ingredient.

Boeuf bourguignon was originally a peasant dish and there’s no way a frugal farmwife is going to discard those veggies.

In this particular recipe they did pretty much what I do (aside from their use of a crockpot). They used tapioca for thickening in a savory dish, which was worth noting and I tried, but they discarded the onions and carrots the beef had braised with. Like so many classic French dishes, boeuf bourguignon was originally a peasant dish and there’s no way a frugal farmwife is going to discard those veggies. Besides, I like the heartier texture.

I also stole their idea of adding the wine in two increments. This was brilliant, providing the depth the sauce needed and a clear wine flavor our taste buds adore. The other idea that proved useful was using tapioca, instead of flour, as a thickener.

Note: most American recipes call for bacon to produce the fat for browning the beef, but American bacon is smoked and flavored in other ways. My preference is to render salt pork which provides a much simpler (and less distracting) flavor component.

Boeuf Bourguignon
Serves 6.

2 lb chuck roast or beef shoulder — cut into 1 1/2″ cubes
3 oz salt pork — cut into 1/4″ cubes
salt and pepper
1 lg onion — finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 lg carrot — finely chopped (about 1 cup)
3 lg cloves garlic — minced
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 cup red wine; Shiraz or zinfandel &mash; divided
2 tbsp soy sauce*
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp instant tapioca — finely ground
2 c homemade beef or chicken broth or canned chicken broth**
3 tsp dried thyme — divided
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb pearl onions (frozen onions work) — peeled
1/2 lb small button mushrooms (or larger mushrooms, quartered)

Heat oven to 250F.

Render salt pork in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Increase heat to medium high.

Generously season beef with salt and pepper. Thoroughly brown in two or three batches, setting browned meat aside on a plate.

Reduce heat to medium and add chopped onions and carrots. Cook until browned. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the thyme, the garlic, and the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Increase heat to high and add 1 cup wine. Deglaze pot, reducing wine by half then add soy sauce, bay leaves, 1 1/2 cups of wine, and stir in ground tapioca. Add beef, salt pork, and enough broth to just cover the meat. Bring just to a boil.

Cover pot and place in center of oven. Cook for 4 hours, stirring once an hour. Add additional broth as needed.

In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan heated to medium. Add onions (no need to thaw if frozen), and brown all over. Add mushrooms and brown them. Add remaining wine, deglaze pan, cover, and simmer for five minutes. Stir into pot. And serve over roasted potatoes (I particularly like roasted baby potatoes, slightly smashed), noodles, mashed potatoes, or some other starch.

*Not a very French ingredient, but this kicks in some umami taste in concert with the tomato paste deepening the flavor.

**Canned beef broth is universally bad (Better than Bouillon concentrate is edible – albeit very high in salt).

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