This tasty Beef Bourguignon is a quick twist on the French classic.
You’ll feel like a gourmet cook when you taste this flavorful stew featuring pearl onions, red wine and beef tenderloin — but it’s quick enough to be prepared on a work night. Serve with mashed potatoes for a filling meal that melts in your mouth. Beef tenderloin will yield the best results for this fast-cooking dish.
Total time:40 minutes
Preparation time:10 minutes
Cooking time:30 minutes
Recipe serves: 3-4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen pearl onions
- 1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into roughly 2-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon clarified butter or canola/safflower oil
- 1 slice of bacon, finely chopped
- 1 10-ounce package of cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- Pinch of sugar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup earthy, good-quality red wine
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Fresh thyme sprigs for garnish
Directions
- Place pearl onions in a small microwave-proof bowl and cover lightly with a paper towel. Microwave for 3-4 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. Set aside.
- Remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before cooking and cut into 2″ chunks–setting aside one small chunk (this step will prevent the meat from getting shocked when it hits the hot pan, as well as help maintain the skillet’s temperature). Finely chop the reserved piece of meat.
- Pat dry the remaining beef chunks with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper on all sides.
- Heat a large, wide non-reactive skillet over medium high heat. Melt the clarified butter (or oil) and swirl to coat the pan.
- Add the large beef chunks to the pan (in multiple batches if necessary to avoid over crowding the pan) and quickly brown them on all sides. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside in a stainless steel bowl.
- Once all the beef chunks have been browned, add the finely diced beef and bacon to the pan, stirring frequently. At this point, the bottom of the pan should have nice browning. Add the mushrooms and saute until lightly brown, for roughly 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic, thyme, and pinch of sugar and stir together until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook for an additional minute or two, stirring constantly.
- Remove the pan from the heat (temporarily) and pour in the wine. Put back on the heat and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with the back of a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits. Reduce the wine by half.
- Add the pearled onions and broth and bring to a boil for a minute or so. Whisk together the flour and water in a small bowl and add to the pan–stirring constantly–until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Season with salt and pepper. Add the browned beef chunks and continue to cook over medium heat until the beef is medium-rare, roughly 2-3 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes and garnish with fresh thyme leaves.