Beef Bourgignon with a few carrots

The French have a gorgeous traditional beef dish from Burgundy, Boeuf Bourgignon.    I've put my own slant on it here to make it "Traditional English cooking in France".  The wine really should be a bottle of Burgundy red..... but I tend to use any good full bodied red wine.

This recipe is so incredibly easy,  and relies on a slow cooker to gently simmer everything for about 12 hours.

I hope you love it as much as I do

Beef Bourgignon

1 tbsp duck fat (use olive oil if you don't have duck fat)
600g beef shin, cut into large chunks
100g smoked streaky bacon, chopped  (Lardon)
2 onions, peeled and chopped
3 carrots peeled and sliced 
4 garlic cloves crushed, peeled and sliced
2 heaped tablespoons Herbes de Provence
1 small can tomato purée
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
750ml bottle red wine, Burgundy is good 
A glass of water

200gms mushrooms, sliced into largish chinks

In the Slow Cooker
Heat the duck fat in a frying pan and brown the beef for about 3 minutes a side.  (cook the beef in batches)  Toss the browned beef in flour then add to slow cooker.   After frying the beef, fry the bacon, onions and garlic in the same pan, adding a little more goose fat if needed.  Add to slow cooker

Rinse out the pan with a little red wine, making sure to get all the lovely juices and add this to the pot.

Reserve out the Mushrooms and put the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker.  Give everything a good stir

Cook for 4 hours on the high setting and then a further 8 hours on low.

Add the mushrooms 2 or 3 hours before finishing.  (after about 9 hours cooking)

From time to time check the mixture for liquid and give a stir.  If the liquid gets a bit low, just add a bit of water

Oh, one last little thing, I have a friend who lives just down the road from here and owns and runs a "Restaurant Gastronomique". He hails from Burgundy and makes, what I believe is the best Boeuf Bourgignon in South West France.... Please, please, please, I want you all to promise not to mention this cheating recipe of mine, I'm sure he would seriously disapprove! Hervé, I apologise.

Yorkshire Pudding

Back in the 15th century there were a series of wars in which England was involved.   Here in France, the 100  years war between France and  England was coming to a disastrous end after stewardship for that war was wrest from the successful Duke of York and handed to the non military Duke of Somerset, leading to numerous defeats until in 1451 Bordeaux and Gascony were lost to the French.... Of course, there are those locals who say that in the 21st Century, the British are winning back the territory by stealth!

About the same time, The Duke of York set himself against the Duke of Somerset, and with the various alliances, the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster were born.  The house of Lancaster wore a red rose , whilst the house of York wore a white one and so it was that this became known as the Wars of the Roses.

By now, I'm sure many of you are wondering why on earth this is all relevant to Ian's French Kitchen??

Well, to understand a bit more you need another piece of information..... and that is that Ian was actually born in Lancashire.... and now, here I am living not that far from Bordeaux....

We British tend to take our heritage quite seriously and so, all my life my family have jokingly set themselves against the Yorkists.  As it happens, my family hails from the borders between Yorkshire and Lancashire so, in fact, there are just as many Yorkshire men as Lancastrians in it.

However, one thing I have learned over the years is that there are some things that the Yorkists certainly got right.  One of those things is Yorkshire Pudding.    I'm not sure how familiar people outside the UK are with Yorkshire Pudding so I'll explain that, despite it's name, it is not a dessert.  It's a savoury batter dish which was served to help fill you up during times of hardship and is usually served with Beef, although, today, it has found many fans who eat it with all sorts of savoury fillings.  Yorkshire pudding itself, apparently, dates back to the mid 18th century and is a truly delicious accompaniment to beef gravy

So, enough waffle, here is an easy recipe made in a food processor.  There are as many Yorkshire Pudding recipes as there are Yorkshire housewives, but this is a Lancastrian's version!

Try Yorkshire pudding cold with honey too, if you have any left over!

YORKSHIRE PUDDING

Preheat oven to 220°C 

Preparation 10 minutes plus 30 waiting
Cooking time – 1 hour

Serves 4

125gms Plain Flour 
½  teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
1 large egg
300ml milk
1 tbs oil

In a food processor
Sift together the salt, baking powder and flour
Mix in the egg with half of the milk and beat for a couple of minutes until the batter is bubbly
Stir in remaining milk
Cover and set aside for 30 minutes
Heat the oil, in an ovenproof dish until very hot, then pour in the batter
Place in the centre of the oven and bake for one hour .

The pudding should be golden brown and have risen nicely.  When cut it should not be wet inside.

 

The hot oven is essential.as is the hard beating to get lots of air into the mixture