The first time I heard about this dish, I was watching one of those chef movies. As most Nigerians would act, I waved the word aside and continued watching the movie. I'd rather watch the romance than break my head trying to figure out the meaning of two words or how it could be made when they didn't show the recipe step by step in the movie. Many months later, while surfing the web, I stumbled upon a short recipe for the so called "boeuf bourguignion" that was all the rave in the movie. You wouldn't believe what my reaction was! I thought "this is the regular method in which I cook all meat, just without the carrots, mushrooms and bacon". With this little information, I got a confidence boost and decided to check out the full recipe.
All of the recipes started with frying the bacon to get the fat and then searing/frying the beef in the fat before cooking. Also, after reading the recipes, i felt like the meat would end up been way to soft for my palate. This didn't sit well with me, as I know it wouldn't with many Nigerians. 90% of Nigerians if not more, like their beef well done and not too soft. This is because we learn to cook meat before frying and not the other way around. Continue reading to find out how I made my mind blowing boeuf bourguignion.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
Beef cut into bite-sizes
2 small beef or chicken franks cut into bite sizes
Button mushrooms cut into bite sizes
4 tbsp melted Butter
2 small carrots sliced in small circles
11/2 cups good red wine
1/2 medium green pepper
2 medium onions (chopped into tiny bits)
1 clove of garlic
6 fresh tomatoes (blended smooth)
5-6 fresh pepper or 1 tbsp dried cameroun pepper
1/8 tsp of dried thyme
Beef stock
1/2 tsp of minced ginger
2 cubes of knorr seasoning
salt to taste
Preparation
In a pot or pan, over very low heat, add chopped meat, 1 of a chopped onion, 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp of minced ginger, 3 blended tomatoes, knorr cubes, pepper, thyme and salt to taste.
Allow to heat up until it produces its own fluid and starts to boil in it.
Add 1 cup of red wine, allow to cook until beef is tender. (You can add a little water at a time so the beef doesn't get burnt before it becomes tender). Also, this water forms your much needed beef stock.
While cooking the beef, if you bought the dried mushrooms like I did (easier to store), then you'd need to soak it for 2 minutes in hot water to become tender.
Drain the water from the mushrooms, place in a pot, add some water just enough to cover the surface, add 1/4 of the second onion, 1/4 tsp of garlic, salt, pepper and thyme to taste.
Cook till tender and almost all the fluid is dried up.
In a saucepan, melt butter and fry the beef until if well browned and crispy, Bring out and place on a plate. Do the same for the mushrooms and sausage separately and place on a paper towel in different plates.
Next, fry the onions and 1 tsp of garlic in butter until soft, ( I really don't like burnt onions). Add the carrot and fry till soft.
Stir in the fried beef, stir-fry for about a min or two.
Pour in the beef stock, remaining red wine and blended tomatoes. (These fluids shouldn't cover the beef, just about three quarters of the beef). Cover the saucepan and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
Uncover the pan, add the mushrooms and sausage, stir for 2 minutes.
Turn of heat, add green pepper slices, mix and cover the pan for a minute.
Serve with cucumber pasta.
You can cook your meat before hand and store in your freezer to make the process easier.
This meal is truly delicious. Believe me, you just have to try it.
Cheers
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