Lindy’s Boeuf Bourguignon and Semur-en -Auxois

Living in Burgundy you are always only a restaurant away from a delicious Boeuf Bourgignon, and I sampled a particularly delicious one on a trip to Semur-en-Axois.

Semur-en-Auxois resembles a ‘Village Perché’, tumbling down towards the river Auxois. The skyline is dominated by the twin towers and spire of the gothic church of Notre Dame and the wide round turrets and ramparts of the 14^th century fortress. The view from the river looking towards the romantic duel arched Pont Dinard graces the pages of every guide book on the Bourgogne.
It is a town begging for a tour, with photo opportunities at every angle. The winding streets lead you on beneath arches, and up and down narrow stone stairways. Finally opening onto a delightful medieval square surrounded by quaint shops selling antiques and broccante. There is an excellent choice of cafés and bistros for such a bijou little place. We make our choice. A tradition Bourgognoise brasserie next to the ‘Porte Sauvigny’, the ancient principal gateway into the old town.

I am here now sitting at a table by a window looking out over the quaint square. We have ordered a small pichet of ‘nuits de St Georges’ and are sipping it in anticipation of the Boeuf Bourguignon; the aroma of which pervades the room. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly and the decor simple and traditional, most of the other diners seem to be locals, so I think we have chosen well.

The Beef arrives in a steaming red wine sauce that is so rich it is the colour of black grapes. It is melt in your mouth tender and garnished with rondelles of carrots, button mushrooms and tiny pearl onions. There is a stack of creamy potato Daupinoise to complete the plate, and a basket of crusty baguette, fresh from the boulangerie, to mop up any remaining sauce. Now for dessert……

Julia Styles would turn in her grave; but as you have all probably begun to realise, I like to keep things as simple as possible, and traditional Beouf Bourguignon recipes were just too ‘fussy’ (putting things in and taking them out etc etc)
I love cooking, but I am not a slave to the kitchen. So with risk of offending the purists, here is my version, that received a enthusiastic ‘OUI’ from my French husband.

Ingredients
Serves 4
1lb/750g Stewing steak (beouf pour bourguignon)
2 shallots very finely chopped
3oz/100g bacon (lardons)
4 medium carrots cut into bite sized chunks
8 small ‘pickling’ onions
7oz/200g button mushrooms (I actually like the nutty brown chestnut mushrooms)
25g chilli chocolate (Aldi or Lindt) (Just use 70%+ cocoa solids chocolate if do not like chilli – but this does not make it spicy, just gives the sauce a little ‘je ne sais quoi’)
¾ pt/ 350ml of good red wine (Burgundy/ vin de Bourgogne)
¾ pt/ 350 ml beef stock
1 tablespoon corn flour (seasoned a little with salt and pepper)
30gm salted butter
A good glug of olive oil
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
A good pinch of brown sugar

Method
Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed casserole (preferably ‘le Creuset’ or similar, alternatively use a slow cooker) and brown the beef on all sides to seal in the juices, then remove from the pan and set aside. (this is best done in small batches, so that it seals quickly, if you put too much in the pan at once it will create steam and not brown)

Sauté the bacon/lardons for 3 minutes until beginning to brown, then add the shallots and cook for a further minute taking care not to burn.

Return the beef to the pan and coat with the corn flour.

Add a good glug of the wine stirring well to form a paste with the flour.
Then add the beef stock a little at a time (again stirring well to avoid lumps developing – if this does happen just continue stirring until they disappear)

Add the remainder of the wine and finally the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate has melted and is incorporated into the sauce.

Add the bay leaf and reduce the heat to the lowest possible, and gently simmer for at least 5 hours (the longer the better!) stirring from time to time.

1 hour before serving sauté the carrots in half of the butter for 5 minutes then add to the casserole, then sauté the onions with a pinch of brown sugar until they are caramelized then add to the casserole.

Immediately before serving, sauté the mushrooms and add to the casserole, and simmer for a further 5 minutes

Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Traditionally this dish is served with Dauphinoise potatoes, but I have also served it with crisp topped parsnip and potato mash as in the photo.
Simply mash 1 cooked parsnip and 4 potatoes with a little melted butter and salt and pepper to taste, then bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes in order to crisp the top to add another texture to the dish.

My table with a view