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Vegetarian Bourguignon, a spin to our classic French recipe.

I am blessed behind believe that my wonderful friend, Michelin Star accredited Chef, my mentor, cooking instructor, author, and restaurant owner, Eliane Muskus from Born to Taste,  accepted to come and visit me and my family for a few days before heading back to the Netherland. Pinching moment. And then fear set it. I will have to cook!!! Talk about intimidation.

However, in the chef’s fashion, she wanted to work in the kitchen with me and prepare a couple of new dishes. The recipe selected for our day was set to be a perfect day cooking, taping and of course, rewarded with a great meal at the end of it all.

In her new cookbook, “Let’s Eat” she has a lot of vegetarian recipes.  Old French classics, rewritten and reintroduce into a vegetarian dish. To order the book click HERE.

This Vegetarian Bourguignon recipe is exceptional.  Once you will bite into the mushrooms and taste the sauce, you will be transported into a different culinary dimension.

What is a Bourguignon?

Bourguignon also called beef Burgundy, is a French classic beef stew that is braised in red wine, often from the Burgundy region, with beef stock, garlic, and garnished with bouquet garni, pearl onions, mushrooms, and bacon.

What is the difference between beef stew and beef Bourguignon?

The difference is the red wine. The French use red wine and our American counterparts use water, beef broth, or tomato sauce. However, the stews with wine must be cooked slowly.

This is a pretty simple recipe with lots of steps. Read it twice just to familiarize yourself with all of them therefore mise en place, or chop, cut, and prepare all your ingredients prior to starting cooking.

However, I have a few pointers to give you to prepare this recipe.

TIPS

Read this recipe twice and have all your ingredients ready prior to starting. You will thank me later.

• The most important ingredient that we are always tempted to use is salt and as you can see very little is used with this recipe, and the reason being is that not only we are using anchovy paste which is already giving a rich flavor to this dish, but while cooking the rich flavor intensifies.
• A large enamel cast iron Dutch oven pan is the best to make the sauce and also it cooks perfectly even.
• Dried porcini mushrooms are a must. Let them soak in warm water, not hot.
• Once soaked, do SAVE the liquid. That liquid has so much flavor that it will enhance any dish. If you do not want to use it here, save it and use it when making risotto.
• Pickled onions are a quick alternative to fresh. Make sure you rinse them before cooking. Would not recommend frozen as they will turn soggy.
• We used baby Bella mushrooms, have fun and add some wild mushrooms to them.
• When purchasing the mushrooms make sure they are all the same size. Much easier to cook evenly. Do not wash them underwater as they absorb the water and will be hard to roast.
• Cook the mushrooms and pearl onions in batches. Overcrowding the Dutch oven will be a detriment as they will not cook evenly. The mushrooms need to be browned on all sides.
• Add the wine to the center of your pan to eliminate any spilling to go over the heat source.
• Deglazing is so important as you do not want to leave behind any pieces of vegetables that are full of flavor.
• Rule of thumb if you need to thicken the sauce: equal part cornstarch and water.
• Season at the last minute with salt.

And one more thing…

One of Eliane’s advice was that anytime we add flour to a pan and add either butter, oil like in this instance, we always have to cook the flour to remove its flavor of it and bring out its nuttier taste of it.

Potatoes are an excellent side dish, pureed.  Creamy polenta or pasta. However, a great baguette will transport you to France.

White wine is a great substitute, and of course, you can make this recipe non-vegetarian.

Do not forget a great glass of wine too.

Looking for more delicious recipes?

Why not try:

Vegetarian Cobb Salad

Broiled Beef Tenderloin with Asparagus and Roasted Red Onion Vinaigrette

Pork Shoulder Stew

Equipment and Ingredients used to make this recipe

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