Delicious and super easy to make, throw it all in the pot and pop it in the oven. Beef bourguignon – beef, mushroom and red wine casserole was introduced to me by my sister Jen. She was visiting and asked us over for dinner in a couple of hours time.
We arrived early to the delicious aroma of the beef, speck, mushrooms and onions simmering already in a delicious stock with red wine and thyme.
I couldn’t believe that she had driven home and had this in the oven already cooking on our arrival. The big step saver in this recipe was that she simply placed everything in the pot without browning the meat.
why we call this cheats beef bourguignon
The time saving cheats version of making beef Bourguignon completely dispenses with the browning of the meat before baking which is a fantastic time saver.
Contrary to everything we had ever learnt about browning the meat first was thrown to the wind when we sat down to eat this rich, tender and delicious casserole served withWhipped Creamy Mashed Potatoes.
It was divine and no one missed the time consuming step of flouring the meat and frying in oil to brown, not to mention the mess! Trust us you will definitely want to add this recipe to your winter repertoire.
We promise you will be delighted with this recipe for Beef bourguignon and hopefully add it to your family favourites.
Have you ever skipped a major step in a recipe and found that it was still a winner?
what cut of meat to use
We love to use chuck steak to make any form of beef casserole or curry that requires a long, slow cook. The chuck is from the shoulder area of a cow and this part of the animal obviously gets a lot of exercise, making the muscles somewhat tough.
There is a lot of connective tissue which helps the meat stay moist as it renders while cooking to produce wonderful, tender meat full of flavour.
freezing the casserole
This casserole freezes like a dream. Allow the casserole to completely cool down in the refrigerator and even give it a day, or 2 in the fridge before freezing as this allows the casseroles flavours to develop further.
Spoon the mixture into a container with a lid and freeze for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to use it allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight and gently reheat in a saucepan on the stove top.
We always make enough of this casserole to make ourBeef Bourguignon Pie with No Fail 2 Minute Flaky Pastry.
Watch How To Make Cheats Rich Beef Bourguignon
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What’s your go-to beef casserole recipe? We would love to hear from you in the comments below when you make beef bourguignon – beef mushroom and red wine casserole.
Yield: 6
Beef bourguignon - beef, mushroom and red wine casserole
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Quick to put together and absolutely delicious. No frying of the beef, simply pop it all in the pot and bake away.
Ingredients
- 3 medium brown onions, halved and cut into thick slices - see notes below
- 6 fat cloves of garlic finely sliced or minced
- 1kg (2 pounds) chuck steak cut into generous mouth sized pieces
- 3 heaped tablespoons plain flour (all-purpose) - enough to dust the meat - see notes below
- 400g (14ounces) speck skinned and cut into lardons, reserve 1/2 for stage 2 of cooking
- 300g (10 ounces) fresh mushrooms thickly sliced, reserve 1/2 for stage 2 of cooking
- 15 good long sprigs of thyme tied in a bunch or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons sugar - this helps to round out the acid in the tomato paste
- 600ml (20 fl ounces) red wine - see notes below
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 oxo beef cubes - oxo is a brand we favour, or use a different brand
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 5-6 thumb sized pieces of orange rind without pith
- Pot sized piece of baking paper to make a cartouche to cover the casserole whilst cooking
Instructions
STAGE ONE COOKING:
- Preheat oven to 360 F (180 C) on bake, not fan
- Place the flour in a bowl and add the meat, sprinkle the flour over the meat, and then tumble the meat with your fingers to distribute the flour - discard remaining flour
- Place meat in a heavy based pot with lid
- Add onion wedges, garlic, thyme, sugar and half of the speck and half of the mushrooms
- Mix red wine, tomato paste, crumbled stock cubes, salt and pepper in a jug to combine
- Pour over beef mixture and stir to distribute evenly
- Cover top of meat with a piece of baking paper and place lid on pot
- Place pot on middle shelf of oven and bake for about 1 1/2 hours
STAGE TWO COOKING:
- Remove pot from oven and add remaining speck, mushrooms and orange rind.
- Stir to evenly distribute making sure to bury the orange rind so it infuses into the cooking liquid -Note : you may need to add 1/2 to 1 cup of wine (or water) if the liquid has thickened too much
- Return to oven for about an hour or until meat is fork tender.
- Serve with creamy mashed potatoes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Speck can be replaced with rindless smoky bacon cut into 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) pieces
- As with all casseroles the flavour improves if left overnight
- Casserole freezes well
- Onions - we found some small onions so we used a dozen whole and 2 sliced medium onions
- Flour - discard any remaining flour in the bowl after dusting the meat
- Red wine - try to use a 'full bodied' wine such as a cabernet sauvignon or shiraz
Nutrition Information
Yield
6 Serving Size
1
Amount Per Serving Calories 643Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 130mgSodium 557mgCarbohydrates 46gFiber 7gSugar 7gProtein 43g
Nutritional information provided here is only intended as a guide.
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