Recipe: Easier Beef Burgundy

Adapted from a September 2008 video recipe at foodwishes.com for "Budget Beef Bourguignon" or "Beef Merlot", revisited at Food Wishes in November 2012, and prepared for dinner on November 18, 2012.  Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2½ pounds beef chuck roast
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
4 carrots
2 ribs celery
1 bay leaf
Several sprigs of fresh thyme

2 cups (or ½ bottle) red wine; merlot and burgundy are good choices
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 cup frozen peas

Instructions 

1. Cut the beef into 2-inch cubes, trimming and discarding the veins of hard fat.
2. Season the beef generously with salt and fresh ground pepper.
3. Add oil to a dutch oven over medium-high heat.
4. When the oil just starts to smoke, add the meat and brown it on all sides. If the bottom of the dutch oven is crowded, brown the meat in two batches.
5. While the meat browns, peel the onion and chop it coarsely.
6. Remove the meat and add the onion to the dutch oven with a pinch of salt, the butter, and the flour.
7. Stir and cook the onions for a 3-4 minutes until they just start to soften.
8. Add the wine and with a wooden spoon scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
9. Heat your oven to 300° with a rack in the lower-middle position.
10. Cook the onion-wine mixture until the volume of the wine is reduced by about half.
11. While the wine reduces, peel the carrots and cut them into 1-inch pieces.
12. Trim the celery and cut it into ½-inch pieces.
13. When the wine is reduced, add the carrots, celery, beef, beef juices, bay leaf, and thyme.
14. Add beef broth to just cover the ingredients. If you don't have enough broth to cover the meat and vegetables you can add additional wine or water.
15. Cover and simmer in the oven for 1½  hours.
16. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the meet is tender, about ½ hour. This would be a good time to taste the stew and add more salt and pepper if needed.
17. Just before serving, remove the thyme and bay leaves and stir in the peas.
18. Serve over mashed potatoes and, as Chef John says, "... as always, enjoy!".

Trim the hard fat from a beef chuck roast, cut it into 2-inch cubes, and season with salt and pepper.

Brown the meat on all sides in some vegetable oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Remove the meat then add onions, salt, butter, and flour and cook 3-4 minutes.

De-glaze the pan with ½ bottle of red wine and reduce the volume of the wine by half.

Add carrots, celery, beef, beef juices, thyme, and bay leaf.

Add beef broth to cover.

Simmer in the oven for 1½ hours covered, then remove the cover and continue to simmer until the meat is tender. Remove the bay leaf and thyme and stir in peas.

Serve over mashed potatoes.