Link: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/01/beef-bourguignon-red-wine-stew-recipe.html
Long post ahead. The recipe is very good, especially some suggestions that he made are helpful, chiefly blanching the lardons (especially if yours are strongly smoked and/or peppery, my first attempt tasted almost like Peposo, a tuscan beef stew that goes heavy on the pepper) and a hassle free way to peel pearl onions. I would like to add the following thoughts, however:
1) The timing of the recipe has been way off, my meat needed close to 3-3.5 hours of cooking time during all attempts, even after using the higher, updated oven temperature. My oven is brand new and runs true to dial, as confirmed by two different thermometers, reading the comments, many others have had the same issue. I strongly suggest you make the dish well in advance and to give yourself a 90 minutes safety net.
2) The sauce consitency, despite using homemade brown beef stock which sets to a very solid gel, was lackluster, despite the longer cooking time, I had to reduce it for around 10 minutes to reach my desired texture. European AP flours tend to be weaker than american ones, so that might be a reason.
3) I disagree, however, about the marinade as I’ve found that it makes a quite profound difference. I marinated the meat thrice, using a scale to be more accurate:
a) Raw wine, raw sliced onion, raw sliced shallots, raw and smashed skin on garlic, raw sliced carrot, dried thyme, bay leaves. Added the beef, 24h in the fridge.
b) The same components as before were placed in the wine, which I cooked just enough to get rid of the alcohol, I also set it on fire to accelerate the process, it’s not as dramatic as flambé of course. Added the beef once room temperature, 24h in the fridge.
c) I first cooked the wine and then added the aromats as it was cooling down. Added the beef once room temperature, 24h in the fridge.
All the spent vegetables were discarded. My GF and her family, who didn’t know which parameters I was changing through the iterations, unanimously preferred version c, with b close second. I share the same opinion, it was striking how clear the difference was, the unmarinated versions tasted like well seasoned beef in a wine sauce (still delicious), but version c especially was more flavourful throughout. The idea of cooking off the alcohol before marinating comes from Thomas Keller (2 decades old article, but afaik he still suggests it in his Masterclass): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-03-fo-25897-story.html. Modernist Cuisine Volume 3 seems to support the notion of driving out alcohol and using the inherent acid in the wine: “In actuality, a dilute quantity of ethanol itself has little effect on meats and seafood.This isn't to say that the wine in a marinade does nothing. Wine is both highly flavorful and quite acidic, so it can have a big impact on the juiciness, tenderness, and taste of the food.”
That’s all for now, maybe try marinating yourself and see how you like it, I hope this posts helps, Daniel Gritzer is always spot on with his recipes!