Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 90 minutes
Skills needed: Medium
You will need:
125 ml (½ cup) extra virgin olive oil
1 kg Winter Creek Farm chuck steak, rump or topside cut into large chunks
2 carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 celery stalks with leaves, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 leek, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 onion, chopped
5 French shallots, halved
10 thyme sprigs
7 bay leaves
300 g Bacon diced
500 ml (2 cups) red wine, boiled briefly to reduce acidity
salt and pepper
300 g button mushrooms
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Note Like most dishes this one tastes better if you prepare it the day before.
Carrot puree
5 carrots, chopped
salt
Mashed potatoes
6 large desiree potatoes
salt
200 ml milk
100 g butter
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium–high heat. Brown the beef in batches. Remove the final batch of beef from the pan, leaving the oil, and add the carrot, celery, leek, onion and shallots. Sauté for 5–8 minutes.
Place the beef and vegetables in a large baking dish. Stir in the thyme, bay leaves and bacon. Pour over the red wine, season with salt and pepper and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to very low and cook for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the carrot puree by boiling the carrots with salt until just soft. Puree.
To make the mashed potatoes, boil them whole with salt until soft. Peel, return them to the saucepan and mash finely. Stir the mash over medium heat for 3–5 minutes to remove excess water (this will also add air to the potatoes, making them light and fluffy). Warm the milk in a separate saucepan and gradually add to the mash. Stir in the butter. Cover the mash with a lid or plastic wrap and keep warm.
Add the mushrooms and carrot puree to the bourguignon and cook for a further 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley.
Serve the bourguignon with the mashed potatoes and sourdough.
