For home cooks craving this deep, savory stew, we’ve turned to Ginette Mathiot’s “Je Sais Cuisiner” (“I Know How to Cook”), an authoritative cookbook for French housewives first published in 1932, and often described as the French “Joy of Cooking.”

Ms. Mathiot’s boeuf bourguignon has just nine ingredients (plus salt and pepper) and takes just five steps. The meat is browned in the same fat as some chopped onions and bacon pieces. Flour is sprinkled in and browned — this is the key to a thick, but not too winy, sauce — then slowly cooked in liquid, with mushrooms tossed in toward the end. The hands-on time for the cook: about 25 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 3 ounces onions or shallots, chopped
  • 3 ½ ounces thick-cut bacon, diced
  • 1 ½ pounds stewing beef, cut into 1 1/2 -inch pieces, patted dry
  • Scant 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 ¼ cups any type of stock, hot
  • 1 ¼ cups red wine
  • 1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs fresh thyme and 3 sprigs parsley, tied together)
  • Black pepper
  • 3 ½ ounces mushrooms, diced
  • Salt
  • Nutritional Information
    • Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

      464 calories; 22 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 43 grams protein; 125 milligrams cholesterol; 410 milligrams sodium

    • Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.

4 to 6 servings

Preparation

  1. In a heavy pan over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and bacon and cook, stirring, until browned. Remove them and set aside; leave fat in pan.
  2. Add beef and brown on all sides (work in two batches if needed to avoid crowding).
  3. Sprinkle browned beef with flour, stir until browned and add stock. Stir, scraping bottom of pan, then add reserved bacon and onions, the wine and bouquet garni. Season with pepper.
  4. Simmer very gently for 2 hours.
  5. Add mushrooms and cook 30 minutes more. Season with salt and serve. Or, even better, reheat and serve the next day.

3 hours

Dining and Cooking