My kind of dish apart from coq au vin, would probably be boeuf bourguignon. Boeuf bourguignon is a classic French recipe, where beef is braised in red wine with garlic, onions, carrots, bouquet garni, pancetta/lardons (bacon), and mushrooms. If you look at both recipes for boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin, they don’t look different at all. In fact, both dishes are similar in the ingredients used. Except for the fact that one uses beef, the other uses chicken.

When I cook stew dish like this, I always make extra portions so that I can keep it for the next 2 days. The taste of boeuf bourguignon gets better the day after. This applies to most of the stew dishes I think. As mentioned before, marinating meat is essential. It is one of the best ways to give it more flavour and to tenderize it at the same time. I am pretty clueless as in which part of meat I should be using for stew dishes. Not long ago, I found a website for reference, learning about different parts of meat cuts for beef and and lamb. From there, I have learnt that best cuts of meat that can be used for braising are: all roasts, briskets, shanks, chunk steaks, top round steaks, short ribs and back ribs. I bought chunk steaks for boeuf bourguignon.

Boeuf bourguignon has got a rustic feel and taste, that is great to beat the cold weather (yes, it’s still cold) at this time of the year. Perhaps, make this dish to warm your other half’s heart on a special day like today – Valentine’s Day. Well, I haven’t forgotten about the giveaway, of course! In fact, I have made the random draw based on the unique email address for the comments that I received. So, we have got a winner! One winner out of 57 participants! The winner is… according to www.random.org/draws/details/?draw=1524, is……. The Little Teochew!!!! You can click on the link provided and entered your email address to verify if you wish. Oh, well done to Ju at The Little Teochew!! I will be in touch soon.

Meanwhile, I will leave you with the recipe of boeuf bourguignon.

Recipe: Boeuf Bourguignon

Ingredients:

Beef blade or chunk steak, 1.5kg

Red wine, 750ml

Garlic (crushed), 3 cloves

Bouquet garni

Butter, 70g

Onion (chopped), 1

Carrots, 2-3

Flour, 2 tbsp

Bacon (cut into short strips), 200g

French shallots (peeled and left whole), 300g

Small button mushrooms, 200g

Method:

1. Cut the meat into 4cm cubes and trim away any excess fat. Put the meat, wine, garlic, bouquet garni in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours and preferably overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Drain the meat, reserving the marinade and bouquet garni. Dry the meat on paper towels. Heat 30g of the butter in a large casserole dish. Add the onion, carrot and bouquet garni and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

3. Heat 20g of the butter in a large frying pan over high heat. Fry the meat in batches for about 5 minutes, or until well browned. Add to the casserole dish.

4. Pour the reserved marinate into the frying pan and boil, stirring, for 30 seconds to deglaze the pan. Remove from the heat. Return the casserole to high heat and sprinkle the meat and vegetables with the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until the meat is well coated with the flour. Pour in the marinade and stir well. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, then cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours.

5. Heat the remaining butter in the clean frying pan and cook the bacon and shallots, stirring, for 8-10 minutes, or until the shallots are softened but not browned. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes, or unitl browned. Drain on paper towels. Add the shallots, bacon and mushrooms to the casserole.

6. Cover the casserole dish and return to the oven for 30 minutes, or until the meat is soft and tender. Discard the bouquet garni. Season and skim any fat from the surface before serving.