Boeuf Bourguignon is a quite famous french dish of stewed beef in a red wine sauce with mushrooms and peral onion. It was made famous by Julia Child in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And I’m sure it tastes perfectly delicious.
The problem is, I don’t eat beef.
I do, however, eat mushrooms and seitan. Which are both also delicious. As is the red wine gravy with carrots and onions.
The recipe seems long and daunting, but the steps are simple. Brown this, cook that, make a sauce, simmer in a slow oven until done.
Mushroom Bourguignon
10 oz cooked Seitan, cut into bit sized chunks (I used something chicken flavored)
24 oz white mushrooms, quarted
5 dried mushroom, rehydrated and quarterd
1 T butter
1 very large carrot, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T tomato paste
2/3 bottle dry red wine
1/2 cup mushroom soaking liquid
1 t thyme
1 t salt
3/4 c vegetable broth
3 T flour
1/4 c water
2 T oil
Heat 1 T oil in a dutch oven. Add the seitan without crowding, brown outside edges. Remove.
Add a little oil (1/2 T) and the butter. Add the mushrooms and cook, covered, 2-3 minutes. Remove lid and cook a further 2-3 minutes until most of the liquid is gone. Remove.
Add remaining oil, carrot and onion and saute for 2-5 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and sautee until bottom of pan begins to brown.
Pour in a little of the wine and scrap up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the wine, reserved liquid, thyme, salt, and broth. Bring to a simmer.
Make a slurry with the flour and water. Add to the stew and mix well. Taste and add salt if needed, remember the liquid will reduce some.
Mix in the cooked mushrooms and place the seitan on top. Cover and cook in a 325 oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with pasta, potatoes, or bread, and a glass of the same wine you used.
Notes
- Make sure the seitan is dry before browning.
- Use any wine, but dry reds that aren’t too expensive are best. The long cooking will remove any ‘fancy’ notes from expensive wines, and cooking wines often have added ingredients that can make the flavor off. Sweet wines have a higher sugar content that can also cause off flavors. The amount of fat and cooking will remove all but the base notes of the wine, so cheap isn’t bad.