Beef Bourguignon: Northern Comfort

Bon hiver, mes amis. 

No, I didn’t misspell the pseudonym/band name of Wisconsin musician Justin Vernon. Bon hiver is French for “good winter”, a greeting used by the residents of Cicely, Alaska, in one episode of the television series Northern Exposure. Vernon was watching reruns one night, heard the saying, and decided to use it as a name for himself and/or his band…except he removed the silent “h”, thinking it would confuse people. It didn’t work; until he became popular I heard many people pronounce it “bahn EYE-ver”. The true pronunciation is “bone ee-VAIR”; it was a greeting used by the residents of Cicely to spread cheer at the first snowfall: a sort of good-natured, neighborly embrace of the inevitable bone-chilling misery that would befall everyone in that climate for the next several months.

It was a good winter evening when we had friends over for dinner on the Wednesday between Christmas and New Year’s Day. With a temperature around 20 degrees at dinnertime, it was a treat compared to the -16 overnight low I’m looking at as I type this, but it was not going to be a grilling and fire-on-the-patio night. The gas fireplace in the living/dining room would have to do. I wanted to serve something comforting that could simmer on the stove while we chatted over wine and a salad, yet sophisticated enough for company. A beef stew with a French accent: Boeuf bourguignon. 

You may know this dish by the English translation: Beef burgundy. Burgundy is the English name for the French region of Bourgogne, a wine region famous for pinot noir and chardonnay. Bourguignon means “Burgundian”.

There are two main red wine grapes grown in Burgundy. If you see a red wine labeled Bourgogne, you can be 100% certain it’s made from pinot noir, as it is the only grape allowed in that designation. The other red grape in the region, gamay, is used to make the young, chillable Beaujolais wine that’s drunk fresh every fall. If you like white wine, a white Burgundy is nearly always 100% chardonnay…but this is an oversimplification, and the topic here is beef and red wine. 

Beef (sorry, it’s just so much easier to type than boeuf) bourguignon looks like pretty much every beef stew, brimming with carrots and chunks of beef simmered to tender perfection. Unlike American beef stews, it typically doesn’t contain potatoes; instead it is loaded with mushrooms and pearl onions. Oh, and bacon. But the real difference maker here is the gravy, made with a full bottle of red wine…and a nice hit of flambéed brandy. The stew is simply seasoned, slowly simmered, and absolutely loaded with depth. 

Traditionally beef bourguignon is served with a baguette to sop up the luscious gravy, but I thought it would be cool to serve it over garlic mashed potatoes. Research tells me I’m not the first to think of this; it’s quite a popular treatment, and for good reason. Whatever your carb of choice, I think this stew will be one of your winter favorites. Serve with a dry red wine; pinot noir, especially from France, is the best, but I had an intense southern French blend that was a damned good match. 

Boeuf Bourguignon over Garlic Mashed Potatoes

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ lb bacon, strips sliced crosswise
2½ lbs beef eye of chuck roast, cut into 1½-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4–5 carrots (about a pound), cut into 1-inch slices
2 sweet onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
½ cup French brandy (I don’t use expensive Cognac for this, but it’s traditional)
1 750-ml bottle pinot noir
2 cups beef stock
1 tbsp double-concentrated tomato paste
2 bay leaves
½ tsp dried thyme
½ stick (4 tbsp) butter, divided
3 tbsp flour
1 lb. frozen pearl onions
1 lb white mushrooms, halved and sliced

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 tbsp sea salt

6 cloves garlic, peeled

½ stick (4 tbsp) butter

1 cup half and half

1 cup grated Parmesan

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add bacon and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a medium bowl.

Season beef with salt and pepper. In single-layer batches, add beef to Dutch oven and sear in the fat for 3 to 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef to bowl with bacon and repeat with remaining beef until all is browned. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Add carrots and onions to the Dutch oven, along with 2 tsp each salt and pepper, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are lightly browned. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add brandy and ignite with a long lighter or match. Careful—this will flame a foot over your pot! If you’re not comfortable with this, just let the brandy simmer; the alcohol will cook off. Put the beef and bacon back into the pot along with all their juices. Add wine and beef broth to just cover the meat. Add tomato paste, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover Dutch oven and place it in the oven for about 90 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are very tender. Meanwhile, make mashed potatoes: 

Cover potatoes with water, add salt and garlic, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil until potatoes are fork-tender. Remove from heat and drain. Cut butter into pieces, add to potatoes along with remaining ingredients, and mash until well blended. 

When stew is ready, return Dutch oven to stovetop. Combine 2 tbsp of the butter with the flour, mash together with a fork and stir into stew. Add frozen onions. Sauté mushrooms in the remaining 2 tbsp of butter for 10 minutes, then add to stew. Bring stew to a low boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

To serve, scoop a mound of mashed potatoes into a generously sized bowl (a soup plate is perfect for this). Ladle stew over potatoes. 

Bon hiver…and bon appétit!