Your Le Creuset pans are perfect for bringing out the flavours in this lovely French recipe with a delicious smoky pork flavour and the carrot puree stirred through towards the end adds colour and sweetness.
Equipment:
- Large heavy based saucepan
- Le Creuset French Oven or similar
- Small saucepan for carrots
- Medium saucepan for potatoes
- Milk pan
- Chef’s or Butcher’s knife
- Chopping board
- Green’s Stripper (optional)
- Potato masher
- To puree carrots: Potato ricer or hand blender
Ingredients:
- 125ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1kg beef (preferably wagyu but any braising beef such as rump topside or chuck steak is fine), cut into large chunks
- 2 carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 2 celery stalks with leaves, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 1 leek, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 5 shallots, halved
- 10 thyme sprigs
- 7 bay leaves
- 300g speck, diced
- 500ml red wine, boiled briefly to reduce acidity
- pinch salt and pepper
- 300g button mushrooms
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
For Carrot Puree:
- 5 carrots, chopped
- pinch salt
For Mashed Potatoes:
- 6 large Desiree potatoes
- pinch salt
- 200ml milk
- 100g butter
Directions:
- Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium- high heat. Brown the beef in batches. Remove the final batch of beef from the pan, leaving the oil and add the carrot, celery, leek, onion and shallots. Saute for 5-8 minutes.
- Place the beef and vegetables in a Le Creuset signature shallow casserole. Stir in the thyme, bay leaves and speck. Pour over the red wine, season with salt and pepper and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to very low and cook for 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the carrot puree by boiling the carrots with salt in the small saucepan until just soft. Puree.
- To make the mashed potatoes, boil them whole in medium saucepan with salt until soft. Peel, return them to the saucepan and mash finely. Stir the mash over medium heat for 3-5 minutes to remove excess water (this will also add air to the potatoes, making them light and fluffy).
- Warm the milk in milk pan and gradually add to the mash. Stir in butter. Cover the mash with a lid or plastic wrap and keep warm.
- Add the mushrooms and carrot puree to the bourguignon and cook for a further 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.
- Serve the bourguignon with mashed potatoes.
