Romantic Dinner for Two: Beef Bourguignon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325ºF.

Place the bacon in a 2-quart Dutch oven or cast-iron pot over medium heat. Cook and occasionally stir the bacon until it’s no longer pink and is starting to crisp up. Remove the bacon from the Dutch oven using a slotted spoon. Set the bacon aside. Do not discard the bacon grease in the Dutch oven.

Season the beef stew meat generously with salt and black pepper, then place in the Dutch oven. Sear the beef on all sides until golden brown.

Add the onion and carrot to the Dutch oven. Cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the mixture in the Dutch oven, cook and stir for 1 minute.

Add the cooked bacon, tomato paste, red wine, beef broth, garlic, 2 to 3 thyme sprigs, and 1 bay leaf to the Dutch oven; season with salt and pepper.

Place the lid on the Dutch oven and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1 hour, stir, then cook for another 1 hour (for a total of 2 hours).

After the stew mixture has cooked in the oven for 1 hour, prepare the onions. Slice off the root ends of the onions and peel.

Place the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the skillet and sear for about 5 minutes until they caramelize in a few spots.

Add the beef broth, 1 bay leaf, 1 thyme sprig, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper to the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the onions are very soft and the beef broth liquid is reduced and syrupy. Transfer the onion mixture to a bowl.

Without wiping out the skillet, prepare the mushrooms by adding the olive oil and butter to the skillet. Increase the heat to medium, then add in the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms for about 8 minutes or until the mushrooms are starting to caramelize around the edges. Transfer the mushrooms to the bowl with the onions.

When the beef is finished cooking in the oven for 2 hours, carefully remove the lid and stir in the onions and mushrooms.

Peel and chop the potatoes, then place them in a large saucepan. Cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a gentle boil. Cook potatoes for about 15 minutes or until fork tender.

Drain the potatoes and place them back in the saucepan over the hot burner. Stir the potatoes to release some of the remaining moisture. Remove the saucepan from the burner, then add the butter and buttermilk to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes; season potatoes with salt and pepper.

Place mashed potatoes into two bowls. Top with a generous serving of the beef bourguignon, then sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Note: If preparing the beef bourguignon the day before, wait to prepare the mashed potatoes until right before serving.