Beef Burgundy
Every year since I can remember, my family has eaten beef burgundy on Christmas Eve. The warm wine and beef flavors, served atop noodles, the meat perfectly tender... this is the food that memories are made of. Which is good, because it means that the substantial effort required to put this meal on the table is worth it. I mean, come on, this is a dish three days in the making - you know it has to be good. This recipe is like the poster child of the slow food movement.
Even though this year was the first that I'd ever enjoyed this meal on Christmas itself (it was our tradition to eat this on the Eve), this is the single dish that I associate the most with warm and cozy family dinners around the holidays. We often spent Christmas with extended family, but Christmas Eve was a smaller affair, and beef burgundy, with its warm and sensuous flavor, was the perfect dish for a more intimate setting.
Now that I'm all grown up, having married and struck out on my own, I find that I'm in a fun situation: I get to make my own traditions with Cory now. Not surprisingly, beef burgundy made the cut. We enjoyed our first Christmas as husband and wife huddled over a bowl (or two), eating the food that will tie the years of our lives together.
Every family deserves a beef burgundy of their own.
Beef Burgundy
Serves 6
3 pounds lean boneless chuck, cubed
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Leaves from about 10 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
Several tablespoons chopped parsley
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 750ml bottle of French Burgundy, good merlot, or good pinot noir (use the best wine you can afford - you may need more than one bottle)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound lean salt pork or good quality bacon, cut into thin strips
18 small white pearl onions
2 tablespoons flour
Around one quart beef stock
1/2 pound mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh or frozen fettuccine or egg noodles (not dried!)
Place the meat, onion, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Combine the wine and olive oil, pour it over the meat mixture (ensuring that it covers the meat) and marinate overnight or for a day, stirring occasionally.
Place the pork in a heavy casserole and saute until the fat is rendered. Add the onions and saute until they are tender and browned and the pork is crisp. Remove the pork from the pan.
Remove the meat from the marinade. Dry the cubes of beef with paper towels (if you don't the meat will steam, not saute). Saute the beef in small batches (again, otherwise the meat will steam) in the hot fat, browning well on all sides. Sprinkle on the flour, cook for a few minutes so that it loses the raw flour flavor, and then pour on the marinade and enough beef stock (you probably won't need the whole quart) so that the meat is covered. Bring to a bare simmer, cover, and cook for two hours at the bare minimum until the beef is meltingly tender.
In the meantime, lightly saute the mushrooms in the butter. When the beef is done cooking, add the onions and mushrooms to the pot, taste, and adjust the seasonings. Simmer for another 15 minutes to blend the flavors.
For best results, let cool and refrigerate. Serve the following day, since the flavors develop over time. If you are serving the dish that day, during the final simmer, cook the noodles. Serve the beef burgundy over a helping of pasta.
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