Boeuf Bourguignon

     Yesterday was french Mother's day, and since I'm not crawling under bills or even coins, I thought I would cook her something special as a present. 

Now I need to start by telling you about this amazing polenta from Tenuta Castello in Italy, it's called rustic polenta and it's a bit like the corn has just been mashed up in a pestle and mortar. It has a lovely texture, creamy but chunky, and the taste is amazing ! They were serving it at the restaurant, but I loved it so much I searched the internet for a place to buy it and finally got some from www.bienmanger.com .

So my mother asked me to cook her a boeuf bourguignon to go with this polenta, and it was delicious  even if I do say so myself ! Lovely tender, fall apart, beef, with soft and sweet carrots, little mushrooms, and that deep, thick, delicious sauce...it's always a winner ! 

Ingredients :

- Beef chuck (or other pieces you would slow-cook) : about 1 kg for 4 people.

- 2 onions

- 5 carrots

- Button mushrooms

- A few cloves of garlic

- A bay leaf

- 1 Tbsp of flour

- Veal stock

- 1L of red wine (maybe slightly more)

- 250 g polenta

- 1L milk

- 30cL creme

- 70g butter

Recipe:

1) Sear the beef in a deep saucepan ( this method is similar to the one used in boeuf strogonoff).

2) Cut an onion and a carrot into a mirepoix (same sized ruff cubes) and smash the garlic with the blade of your knife.

3) Put the beef away on a plate and sweat the vegetables in the same pan deglazing with water if necessary (you don't want any coloration on the vegetables).

4) Then add the garlic and the beef, sprinkle the flour on top and then stir for about a minute.

5) Add a cube of veal stock, the bottle of wine and some water until all the meat is covered.

6) Bring it to a boil then let it cook with a lid on a very low heat for 4 hours. (Skim the fat and impurities of the top with a spoon while it's cooking).

7) Turn off the heat and let it rest over night.

8) Take the cubes of meat out of the sauce, and put the sauce through a sieve.

9) Cut the rest of onions and carrots into bug chunks and sweat them out in butter. Then add the meat, and the sauce, top up with more wine and veal stock to cover the beef entirely.

10) Let it simmer for 2 hours, then add some peeled and halved mushrooms, and let it simmer for an other hour.

11) In the mean time cook the polenta : Bring the butter, creme and milk to a boil, then add the polenta and whisk until it's thickened, put it to the side to rest until you need it. Before serving just warm it through with extra milk if needed.

12) When you are ready to serve, brink the beef bourguignon to a boil to reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. 

 And voilà it's done, you can also serve it with a few greens, i had cooked some wild asparagus ( just 5 minutes in boiling salted water. )

P.S. : If you are in a bit of a rush, forget the first stage, just start off with the big chunks of vegetables (but don't forget to add the flour) and cook it for 4 hours instead of 3 ( adding the mushrooms an hour before serving), the flavors won't be as deep but it will still be delicious.