Beef Shin Bourguignon
Bourguignon is one of France’s most famous dishes for good reason – it shows how a simple combination of beef, wine, bacon and mushrooms can create a perfectly balanced stew.
Ingredients
- 1.8kg beef shin, in a whole piece on the bone
- 200g of bacon lardons
- 2 large onions, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp of tomato purée
- 300ml of full-bodied red wine
- 1.5l beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 250g of white mushrooms, halved
- 2 bone marrow half-bones
- 1 baguette, sliced into chunky croutons
- 50g of panko breadcrumbs
- 50g of unsalted butter
- 1 small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 lemon, zested
Method · 4 h 40 min
- Heat the oven to 150°C fan. Add the lardons to a large casserole dish over a medium heat and cook until crisp and golden and the fat has rendered out. Scoop out and set aside, leaving as much fat in the pan as you can
- Season the beef shin all over with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to high, then add it to the pan with the bacon fat. Sear all over until a deep golden brown, then lift out and set aside
- Add the onions, carrots and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Add the tomato puree, cook out for a few minutes, then pour in the wine. Leave to reduce by half
- Pour in the beef stock and add the bay and thyme. Tip in the bacon and beef shin, then cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 3.5-4 hours, adding the mushrooms for the last hour
- Remove the casserole from the oven and turn the oven up to 220°C. Strain the casserole through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, reserving all the solids. Put the strained liquid over a medium heat and leave to reduce until thickened slightly. Don’t let it get too thick as the flavour can become overpowering
- Meanwhile, roast the marrow bones in the oven for 15 minutes, then scoop out the marrow with a spoon into a bowl. Season well, mashing the marrow into a paste. Coat the baguette croutons with the marrow, tossing them in the bowl (add a dash of oil if you need to), then return to the oven until golden and crisp
- For the crumb, add the panko and butter to a frying pan and cook until golden. Stir in the parsley, garlic and lemon zest and set aside
- Pull the shin bone away from the meat – it should slide out. Shred the meat using 2 forks into juicy pieces, then return them to the reduced sauce along with the rest of the reserved solids. Cook for a few minutes to warm through
- Divide the bourguignon among serving bowls, then top with the croutons and scatter with the parsley crumb. The big shin bone can be served alongside for a bit of drama – and the extra marrow within can be scooped out for added richness
