This recipe’s rich, tenderizing stock made with red wine, beef broth, thyme, and bay leaf is just the liquid you need to coax this pot roast into delicious, fork-tender submission.
Make this for your family, and you can say you cooked one of the hardest recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking—the festive, pièce de résistance of the boeuf bourguignon—which is what this is just about. It’s a roast simmered in red, burgundy wine (well, it has to be from the Burgundy region of France for the dish to be a true-blue boeuf bourguignon, but not everyone insists on this now).
The red Burgundy wine is a dark red wine that peasants in France could afford to tenderize the tougher, cheaper cuts of meat with waaaaay back in the day. I know this because I read my Auguste Escoffier. The recipe was first published in a cookbook in 1903 by the famous chef.
But unlike Julia Child’s take on Escoffier’s peasant stew with wine, this easier, faster-to-table take on boeuf bourguignon is EASY-PEASY—especially if you’ve bought your veggies pre-sliced, diced, and what have you. But get your mise en place done with this and just sit down and enjoy the aroma for a whole 3 hours, and you’re basically done, except for eating it.
Long-simmering stews and roasts inspire love for a good book, your favorite slippers, or a good movie. These little things are important because comfort is important. And this dish is comfort food at its apex. As my friend Brooke likes to say before she decides to attempt a new recipe, “Does it spark joy?” And this long cooking, aroma-rich roast, as Brooke affirms, “sparks major joy” in the family and when they relish it at dinner.
I’m Very Fond of the Fond in This Braised Beef
This braised beef, like Child’s recipe, creates the most tender, juicy, richly sauced pot roast you’ve ever tasted. The magic is in Steps 2 and 6 when you season your meat, add that wine, and scrape those little brown bits at the bottom of the pot.
Fond. I found this fascinating in cooking school. Chefs call those little brown bits that accumulate as you fry or sauté anything in fat “fond.” And, unbeknownst to me, who stood, mouth agape upon learning this—I mean, I’d been making fancy cookies, tarts, and what have you since the age of 8.
So, when one of my chefs says, “Class, today we’re braising a beef roast—now, what is the most important thing to remember?” And everyone but me replied in unison, “Preserve the FOND,” like a whole team of chanting robots; I was blown away. This was all Greek to me.
See, as the chef explained that day, fond is where all the flavor lies in just about every dish you fry or sauté. So, I’m thinking here I’ve been sautéing away at a chicken stir-fry or a pan-fried chicken breast with morel mushrooms and throwing all that flavor away my whole life.
And if it’s rich flavor and tender roast you seek, see, wine is what you want to add—that and salt. Both salt and wine don’t just enhance the flavors of meat and make them literally dance with flavor; they also tenderize it more.
How to Make Ahead and Store
This braised beef keeps extremely well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and is so great to use in a long list of leftover creations. You can also freeze cooked leftovers for up to 90 days if placed in an airtight, freezer-friendly container or freezer bag.
Serving Suggestions
Braised beef pairs wonderfully with all kinds of sides, but I love it most with this herbaceous, cheesy, bacon-y, Easy Twice-Baked Potato Casserole, elegant Asparagus and Mushrooms, and this Ridiculously Easy Potluck Cake that’s all filled with cherry goodness. Tomorrow, make these delicious Shredded Beef Enchiladas with Leftover Pot Roast.
Braised Beef
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef chuck roast cut into large chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 carrots peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
- Season the beef chunks generously with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef and sear until browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove the beef and set aside. In the same pot, add the onion and garlic, cooking until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the carrots and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Pour in the red wine, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits.
- Add the beef broth, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.
- Return the beef to the pot. Cover and transfer to the oven.
- Braise in the oven for about 3 hours, or until the beef is very tender.
- Remove from oven, discard thyme and bay leaves, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper before serving.
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