Boeuf Bourguignon + Bacalhau à Brás
🍳 Today’s culinary picks:
👨🍳 Greetings, gourmands! Today, we’re conjuring up some proper restaurant magic in the home kitchen—no fuss, no frills. Two time-tested recipes that’ll whisk you straight to the heart of Europe.
🍷 1. Boeuf Bourguignon
This legendary beef stew, braised in red wine, is the very essence of French home-cooked comfort.
Ingredients:
- Beef shoulder — 800 g
- Bacon — 150 g
- Dry red wine — 500 ml
- Beef stock — 300 ml
- Carrots — 2
- Onions — 2
- Button mushrooms — 250 g
- Garlic — 3 cloves
- Tomato paste — 1 tbsp
- Thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper
Instructions:
- Fry the bacon until crisp, remove it, then sear the beef chunks in the rendered fat until golden.
- Add the diced carrots and onions, sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and garlic.
- Return the bacon, pour in the wine and stock until the meat is just covered. Add the herbs.
- Simmer on the lowest heat for 2.5–3 hours (or bake at 160°C/320°F) until the beef is fork-tender.
- With 15 minutes left, add the mushrooms, sautéed separately.
💡 Fun fact: This dish started as a peasant trick—using long, wine-braised cooking to turn tough old-cow meat into something meltingly tender and aromatic.
🐟 2. Bacalhau à Brás
A stunning mix of flaky cod, crispy potatoes, and eggs. Simple, hearty, and ridiculously good.
Ingredients:
- Cod fillet — 500 g
- Potatoes — 400 g
- Onions — 2
- Eggs — 4
- Olives, parsley, olive oil, salt
Instructions:
- Poach the cod (5–7 minutes), let it cool, then flake into small pieces, removing any bones.
- Julienne the potatoes into matchstick-thin strips and fry until golden.
- Slice the onions into half-rings and sauté until translucent.
- Add the cod to the onions, warm through. Then mix in the potatoes.
- Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper, pour into the pan, and stir constantly until the eggs set but stay creamy.
- Serve generously sprinkled with parsley and garnished with olives.
💡 Fun fact: This dish is named after its creator, a tavern keeper named Brás who whipped it up in a Lisbon bar using leftover kitchen scraps.
