Beef
by: Eric Kim
May20,2020
5
18 Ratings
- Prep time 5 minutes
- Cook time 2 hours 10 minutes
- Serves 1
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
My take on boeuf bourguignon skips a couple ingredients—namely the bacon, whose fat traditionally adds luscious flavor to the classic French stew, and the flour, which would otherwise serve as a thickener for the sauce. I find that boneless beef short ribs, which are marbled with fat and collagen, do all the heavy lifting in this recipe and help you arrive at a final stew that’s just as glossy, satisfying, and full of deep, savory flavor as the original. My final flourish is a clean, crunchy panko gremolata with parsley, lemon zest, and raw garlic (trust me!) that helps to liven up the slow-cooked dish and will make you wonder why you haven’t been sprinkling this stuff over your food the whole time.
This single-serving recipe is for my column, Table for One. Should you have more mouths to feed, then just multiply the amounts you see here. —Eric Kim
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- For the stew:
- 1/2 poundboneless beef short ribs, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 pincheach kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoonsolive oil, divided
- 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoontomato paste
- 1/2 teaspooncrushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoonherbes de Provence
- 1 dried or fresh bay leaf
- 1 cupred wine (I used a Côtes de Bordeaux)
- 1 cupwater
- 2 teaspoonsWorcestershire sauce
- 4 ouncescremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 small carrots, thickly cut on the bias (about 4 ounces)
- Mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice, for serving
- For the gremolata:
- 2 tablespoonspanko bread crumbs
- 1/2 garlic clove, grated
- 1/2 lemon, zested
- 1/4 cupchopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoonolive oil
- 1 pincheach kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Generously season the short ribs with salt and pepper and heat a small (1 1/2 to 3–quart) oven-safe saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sear the short ribs, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until browned on all over. Remove meat to a plate, leaving rendered fat in the pan.
- Add the shallot, garlic, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, herbes de Provence, and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper; and sauté for 1 minute. Add the wine and reduce a little, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the water and Worcestershire sauce, bring to a simmer, and nestle the meat back into the pot. Cover with lid and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until ribs are fully cooked and tender.
- Meanwhile, make the gremolata: In a large dry skillet over medium-high heat, fry the bread crumbs until toasted just slightly browned. Add to a bowl, followed by the garlic, lemon zest, parsley, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir until well combined. Set aside for later.
- In the same pan, add the remaining tablespoon olive oil and cook the mushrooms and carrots without touching them too much, so they fry and almost caramelize at their edges, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add to the pot with the beef, stir, cover, and return to the oven for 30 more minutes. Check for final seasoning: salt and pepper.
- Serve the finished stew with the prepared mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice, and sprinkle over the gremolata for crunch.
Tags:
- Stew
- American
- French
- Beef
- Entree
- Dinner
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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Eric Kim
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Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.
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24 Reviews
EmptyNester November 20, 2023
Love that this was presented as a single serving that I could double. This was a terrific way to change up my usual pot-roast and boeuf bourguignon and make something for just 2. The gremolata is a must have and the sauce was terrific.
Lora October 28, 2023
Delicious recipe with the addition of the bread crumb topping. Loved sautéing and adding the mushrooms and carrots at the end. Really kept their flavor. I didn’t use short ribs because I had a beef roast so I made minor modifications for sizing it up.
transmute70 October 5, 2023
Fantastic!
I tripled the recipe; subbed gochujang for tomato paste (what I had on hand) and omitted the red pepper flakes. So good!!!
The gremolata is a must-have!
Jeremy W. September 28, 2023
I will add the the resoundingly adoring chorus. This recipe is great. And it will land in our go-to meals, as well as an entertaining option in the future. We served over polenta. Yum.
Oldman437 February 2, 2022
Followed the recipe and wound up with an excellent dinner. Second time I made it, I was distracted, so I browned the meat before cutting it up, added carrots too soon, etc. It was still very good. It's wonderful to have a recipe for one serving, unlike the usual cutting down from the 4 to 6 servings. I'm good at math, but I still don't feel the need to do low level algebra to convert the recipe for one serving.
Flange January 31, 2022
Fantastic! Preparation takes a while for this novice home cook but it was worth it! I could only find bone-in beef ribs... No problem! By the time this was finished, the meat fell off the bone. Will make again. Thank you!
sstemmann December 25, 2021
Easy and delicious! I was pleasantly pleased with how well this turned out. I needed a special meal for 2 people and this was perfect. I couldn’t find any boneless short ribs. It wasn’t a problem because this cooking method I was able to pull the bones off midway through.
whym October 1, 2021
Wow! I'm really loving this series of meals for one, and this recipe is no exception. I made it tonight, served over cheese grits. So, so good-- the flavors were phenomenal (don't skip the gremolata, it ties everything together). And now I have leftovers that I'm already excited to eat tomorrow!
YMMV, but I had a particularly fatty set of shortribs (like a full inch of fat on top), and in hindsight, I should've trimmed it down. So if you're in the same boat, I'd recommend trimming it down to a quarter inch or less.
Busywboys November 1, 2020
Wow! It was a great Sunday meal! I tripled the recipe, only halfed the red pepper, and it was super. I accidentally bought bone-in short ribs, but simply cut off the meat and added the bones in for flavor! The gremolata was a great addition and easy to make. I wish I had made more!!
jennifer G. October 31, 2020
Been making my inaugural boeuf bourguignon on Halloween for last 15+ yrs...tried your version today and everyone loved it (including me). Delicious, thank you for sharing!
lynx60489 September 4, 2020
This was excellent!!! I have now made it twice. The first time as written, the second time, I tripled the quantities of beef and vegetables. I was nervous about tripling the sauce but in hind site it was a mistake not to -- I should have at least doubled it. It looks like a lot of liquid going into the pot but it stews down a lot.
The only other modifications that I made were to decrease the herbes de Provence by half. The first time that I made this I thought that there was a little bit of a soapy taste. It might be my spice blend, but I much preferred the taste when I used less. The second change was to skip the gremolata. That is out of pure laziness, but it is still delicious without it! I might reconsider making it if I serve this for company.
As an alternative to rice or potatoes, this is also awesome with a puree of cauliflower and parsnips. I personally prefer it to the taste to mashed potatoes.
Faria Z. August 31, 2020
Hi Eric,
I made this recipe and it was delicious! It was the first time I made beef bourguignon. I found your recipe easy and easily doubled it. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I've made several of your other recipes and all are delicious. I really enjoy reading your articles and your recipes inspire me. Thank you!
maggiesara July 23, 2020
This is a good-looking recipe, and I look forward to making it, but I am confused as to why one would deliberately make such a small amount. All stews and braises improve with time, so leftovers -- the chance to eat a rested-and-thus-even-better-version tomorrow and perhaps three days hence as well -- could only be a good thing. And stews freeze beautifully, meaning you do the work once, stick leftovers in the freezer, and have a wonderful dinner on command whenever you like. There are many dishes that are at their best only when made in single-serve amounts, or only when made just before serving, but stew is not one of them. So while the recipe looks good, the reasoning behind it totally escapes me.
home_cook_mark July 24, 2020
Hi Maggie,
You can always increase the portion size by doubling or tripling everything, however this was written as a meal for one person. This one is more of a loose take on the traditional beef bourguignon using beef shortribs as the stew meat and using the "stew" broth as a sauce rather than a soup. I agree that stews are usually made in large stockpots where you have a lot of leftovers, however this recipe isn't designed to have leftovers. This works well for people like myself that are single and only cook for one because often times when making large portions, freezing only lasts so long and majority of the time I don't want to be eating the same thing for days on end. That's just my preference and I've found that I've saved money I'd be spending on larger portions and had more to choose from for meal options instead. I encourage you to make it anyhow. Sometimes less is more with this rich, filling dish. Enjoy!
CK June 7, 2020
Cooking now with oxtails ( they’re what I had). I use gremolata minus the panko to finish the sauce. Remove meat from pot keep warm bring sauce to boil, reduce by half. Remove from heat add gremolata and stir. Serve over potatoes.
Leftovers! Think risotto. Add to typical risotto, sauce and all before adding Parmesan(and butter)(guilty pleasure))serve with a bright green salad and you’ve covered an extra day in the week spectacularly.
RasLass June 6, 2020
I made this 2 days ago and it was absolutely delicious! I saved the leftover liquid from the beef to add another type of meat later. I served it it with green pea mash, so beautiful! Also, I my red wine might have been a tad too dry (Leese Fitch) so I added a little brown sugar and it was perfect! Thank you💛💛💛
Eric K. June 7, 2020
I'm so glad. Thanks for sharing!
RasLass June 6, 2020
I made this 2 days ago and it was absolutely delicious! I saved the leftover liquid from the beef to add another type of meat later. I served it it with green pea mash, so beautiful! Thank you💛💛💛
home_cook_mark May 24, 2020
Just made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! Eric, thank you for posting a recipe that's for only one person! This was also my first time using red wine in a dish and I gotta say, it really bumped up the flavor of the sauce! Also the first time I've ever used shortribs in a recipe. I'm Korean as well but was raised in the states, but I still like to try things that harken back to my nationality. This will definitely be a "make again" recipe! The only thing I would have changed was the parsley in the gremolata, I used the curly kind but next time I'll use flat leaf (Italian) parsley as it seems like it would mix with the panko better.
Eric K. May 27, 2020
Thrilled to hear it, Mark :) Yes, I always use flat-leaf parsley. I should've specified.
Yossel May 22, 2020
Amazing recipe. I tweaked it a bit by doubleing everything except the water and it was GREAT. I used boneless rib steak instead of the short ribs. Can't rave enough about the results. BUT, I didn't see the need for the gremolata. Just my craziness. It was DYNOMITE, and plenty for 2 with the doubling of the recipe.
Eric K. May 27, 2020
Fancy! I'm so glad; thanks for reporting back.
tracie1210 May 21, 2020
The recipe looks amazing but really...2 hours for one serving? Why? How hard was it to adjust the portions to serve even 2 or 4?
Eric K. May 21, 2020
Not hard at all! This is for my column about cooking for one: https://food52.com/tags/table-for-one
Just multiply the amounts if you're feeding more.
Cheers-
