travel - I think if you change onions to pearl onions and add mushrooms, it is a pretty classic recipe.
The brandy gets burned off.

One thing that has not been stressed IMO is that "classic BB" is not an easy, slap together, last minute dinner. It takes planning, some special ingredients and much labor - about an hour of prep for my wife and me.

Having said that, the difference to "beef stew" is ridiculous. A great BB is worth doing (IMO).

robjame, so true, which is just one reason I thought the idea expressed "it is actually the sort of thing that most residents would never order in a restaurant. We other people make it and eat it at home -- it is more common to order a difficult dish in a restaurant" was such a preposterous idea. It would be my guess that many French housewives would just as soon go out for it as to spend half the day preparing it and heating up the apartment or house cooking it. I could be wrong, but I'd think many French people really don't spend hours cooking every day at home.

Oh, I know it is pretty classic and similar but I personally love the flavour brandy imparts, although most does get burned off. You still get the flavour.

I think it is interesting that this thread has garnered so much attention - love it when people are passionate about such topics! :)

Neo -- you're missing the essential detail here. If you order it in a restaurant, you don't have the wonderful leftovers for future meals. And it is definitely one of those dishes that gets even better the second time around.

No, I'm not missing that detail. I agree it gets even better, but I don't think that "detail" has anything to do with the issue I was talking about.

Guess what I'm cooking tonight? :D

It's been on my mind since I first saw this thread.

Dinty Moore beef stew with Paul Masson burgundy?

This thread inspired me to make Boef Bourgignon for dinner tonight.

I use my above mentioned recipe. The beef has been braising for three hours now and I have used 3 1/2 bottles of wine. And the sauce is already incredibly tasty...

I was thinking about the recipe of Craig Claiborne that someone provided here. This recipe uses not less than 19 ingredients.

I took just beef, wine, salt, pepper and a little garlic and it is wonderful. Nothing to divert the original taste.

I mean this kindly...
The recipe sounds lovely and I think it is one that I will try myself one day.

But you do know that it is not Boeuf Bourguignon...

finally made the BB and it was outstanding. it is not a dish for RR 30 minute meals. it was an all day making dish. but worth it. i took the simple route (oh,so i thought) i ended up using carrybean's recipe, and i highly recommend that you all try it. i did add frozen onion pearls but other than that i stuck to it 100%, whipped up mashed potatoes and a loaf of french bread and went at it for 3 days.

so i'd like to thank carrybean and all the other's for the good,bad and ugly on this subject.

Theresa in Day-twa ;)

PS 30 days till Europe.

The beef piece size need be chosen by...teeth health, budget, availability of meat choice and taste preferences. Consider that a 5cm x 5cm piece has a volume of 25cm cubed and a 2.5cm x 2.5cm piece only 11cm cubed, cooking times will vary by hours! Domestic kitchens operate in minutes rather than the hours of a commercial establishment. Beef Bourguignonne is easy to make but requires a large amount of time. Domestic kitchens can speed up the cooking process by using 'tender' cuts of meat. A commercial kitchen uses cooking time to effect its resuts. Question? Can it be BB if BURGUNDY is not used? Can it be WHITE BURGUNDY?

You can use white wine, in which case it is not BB but daube provençale! (add a few olives and tomatoes)

You do not have to use red Burgundy. Any good red wine will do the trick and it will still be BB.

To reduce cooking time by 1/3rd, you can use a pressure cooker.

Years ago when in Beaune we had BB in a small restaurant. We have tried many times with minimal success to duplicate the dark, almost black, crusty exterior with the very moist interior of the medium-sized chunks of beef. Traveller1959's method seems as though it could produce these results. This BB was not "stewed", it was different in texture than any beef stew we've tasted. The sauce was also very dark. Though BB may be made by the French in their own kitchens and not often ordered when out dining, our experience in the little restaurant in Beaune will always be a fond culinary memory.

Glad you liked it, Mamaw. It does take a while to make but isn't difficult & has a lot of leeway to vary it. The leftovers are even better.