Food At Faithlegg - Beef Bourguignon with Watercress Whipped Potatoes

Jenny Flynn, the head chef at Faithlegg House Hotel, joined Maria McCann on The Saturday Café for Food At Faithlegg. For the November episode, Jenny will be chatting about her amazing Beef Bourguignon. It is known as the mother of all stews, it takes a bottle of red wine and brandy to seal the beef, and it then slow cooked for two hours in the oven, the smell of this stew will be sure to impress. This recipe makes enough for 6 portions

Beef Bourguignon Ingredients:

1kg of braising steak or rump steak
150g pork belly or bacon lardons into thin strips
1 sliced shallot
1 medium onion
1 bottle of red wine
2diced carrots
Brandy 200ml
Bay leaf, sprig of thyme sage rosemary tied together (bouquet garni)
Beef stock to cover the beef, about 2pts
2 cloves crushed garlic
100g pearl onions
100g button mushrooms
2 diced carrots

Method:

Cut the rump steak into cubes and coat with flour.
Fry the pork belly in a flameproof casserole dish or heavy based saucepan, add the steak, flambé with brandy, add the red wine and bring to the boil. Add the stock, bouquet garni, garlic and seasoning.
Cover and simmer gently for about 2 hours.
About 20 minutes before stew is ready, fry the pearl onions carrots and mushrooms in a little butter and add the stew.
Check the seasoning and the thickness of the stew. If you would like your stew thicker, add a little beurre manié (equal amounts of butter and flour) and mix in to the sauce. This will take about 10 minutes to cook out so it won’t thicken straight away.

For the whipped potatoes

Make your mash as normal. In a small pan, add 150ml cream and 30g butter. Heat and add a bunch of watercress or parsley, using a hand blender, buzz. When you strain the potatoes, ensure to put back on the heat to remove any excess water. Add the watercress cream and mash; it will need salt and ground white pepper to finish.

Enjoy with the creamy mash or as the French do - with a rustic baguette.

~ Jenny Flynn