What's On My Table: Beef Bourguignon

One of my passions is to show that healthy, whole food eating doesn't mean boring and flavorless food! That's not a way to live.  You shouldn't have to choose between healthy and delicious! On Thursdays, I'm doing a series here called "What's On My Table" like I do on my IG account: @fasterwaywithrobin .  I will be using past recipes until my kitchen is back in order.  I hope you'll follow along!   Please give me recipes you would like to see cleaned up, and I'll add those to the rotation when I'm able.

Houston is about to have a huge cold snap, so if I had a working kitchen, Beef Bourguignon would be on my menu for Saturday.  It takes a little longer to make, so buy precut stew meat to cut down on prep time.  I love eating this for treat day on a thick slice of garlic rubbed toasted French bread, and then eating the leftovers (without the bread) on low carb day.  It's one of those recipes that makes your house smell incredible, and it tastes even better leftover.  I love making this for company or large gatherings.

Clean Beef Bourguignon

This base recipe comes from Ina Garten with tweaks I've made to keep it clean.

8 oz SUGAR FREE bacon (I use Pederson's)

2 1/2 lbs stew meat (1 inch cubes)

Kosher salt 

Pepper

1 pound petite baby carrots 

2 yellow onions, sliced

1 T garlic, minced

1 bottle dry red wine (I use 2 buck chuck Merlot from Trader Joe's)

2-4 c beef broth

1 T tomato paste

1/2 t dried thyme

4 T vegan butter

1 1/2 T arrow root starch

1 lb fresh mushrooms (I like baby bellas), washed, stems removed and sliced

Method:

*Preheat oven to 250 degreed F

1. Cook your bacon in a Dutch oven. Reserve on a paper towel lined plate.

2. Salt and pepper stew meat and then brown in bacon fat. Reserve with bacon.

3. Toss carrots and onions and 1 T salt into the Dutch oven and cook 10-15 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

4. Add meat into pot and then crumble the bacon into the pot.

5. Add wine (yes, the ENTIRE bottle ;) ), and beef broth until meat is covered.  Then add thyme and tomato paste and bring to a simmer.

6. Place lid on Dutch oven and put stew in the oven for 1 1/4 hour.

7. Melt 2 T of vegan butter and combine with the arrowroot starch. Stir into Dutch oven. (You can skip this step but it won't be thick the first day).

8. Saute mushrooms in last 2 T of butter and add them to the pot. Stir to combine.

Serve over toasted French bread that has been rubbed with fresh garlic, with egg noodles, or by itself.  My kids prefer it over the noodles, and Taylor and I eat it with bread for treat day and as a stew on low carb days.

This is my longest recipe, but don't be intimidated by it's length.  Each step is super easy, and I promise it's worth it!