ELIZABETH DAVID‘S BEEF BOURGUIGNON

Beef Bourguignon 

This is a favourite among those carefully composed, slowly cooked dishes which are the domain of French housewives and owner-cooks of modest restaurants rather than of professional chefs. 

Generally supposed to be of Burgundian origin, Boeuf À La Bourguignonne has long been a nationally popular French dish, and is often referred to, or written down on menus, simply as ‘bourguignon’. 

Such dishes do not, of course, have a rigid formula, each cook interpreting it according to her taste, and the following recipe is just one version.

Enough for 4-6 people

• 900g (2lb) topside of beef
• Salt and pepper
• 1 large onion, sliced
• Thyme, parsley and bay leaves
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 150ml (¼pt) red wine
• Meat dripping or butter
• 115g (4oz) of salt pork or streaky bacon (unsmoked for preference), cut into 5mm (¼in) thick match-length strips
• A dozen whole small (baby) onions, peeled
• 1tbsp flour
• 300ml (½pt) meat stock, preferably veal
• A clove of garlic
• 225g (½lb) small mushrooms

CAROTTES VICHY 

Enough for 4 people

This is one of the best-known vegetable dishes of French cookery. Carottes Vichy can be served as a garnish to meat or as a separate dish. New carrots are scraped, and sliced into bias-cut rounds 5mm (¼in) thick. Put them into a heavy pan with 30g (1oz) butter, a pinch of salt, 2 lumps of sugar, and 450ml (¾pt) of water per pound of carrots. Cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes until nearly all the water has evaporated and the carrots are tender. Add another lump of butter and shake the pan so the carrots do not stick. Add a little finely chopped parsley before serving.

Cut the meat into slices about 6cm (2½in) square and 5mm (¼in) thick. Put them into a china or earthenware dish, seasoned with salt and pepper and covered with the large sliced onion, some of the herbs, olive oil and red wine. Leave to marinate from 3 to 6 hours.

Put a good tablespoon of beef dripping or butter into a heavy stewing-pan of about 2.25ltr (4pt) capacity. In this melt the salt pork or bacon. Add the whole small onions, and let them brown, turning them frequently and keeping the heat low. Take out the bacon when its fat becomes transparent, and remove the onions when they are nicely coloured. Set them aside with the bacon.

Now put into the fat the drained and dried pieces of meat (reserving the marinade) and brown them quickly on each side. Sprinkle them with the flour, shaking the pan so that the flour amalgamates with the fat and absorbs it. Pour over the strained marinade. Let it bubble half a minute; add the stock. Put in a clove of garlic and some of the herbs tied in a bouquet. 

Cover the pan with a close-fitting lid and let it barely simmer on top of the stove for about 2 hours. Now add the bacon and onions, and the whole mushrooms, washed but not peeled and already cooked in butter or dripping for a minute to rid them of some of their moisture. Cook the stew for another half-hour. Remove the herbs and garlic before serving with Carottes Vichy.