...or, rather, his grandmother's.
| 250 g | chestnut mushrooms (crimini) |
| 10 | pearl onions |
| 2 | thick medium carrots |
| 2 cloves | garlic, fine chop |
| 200 g | bacon chopped |
| 1 kg | boneless shin of beef, salted and peppered |
| 50 ml | cognac |
| 750 ml | bottle of Burgundy or dry, unfruity red |
| 750 ml | beef stock (hight quality) |
| — | beurre manié (flour and butter) |
Quarter or halve vegetables. Cut carrots into similar size morsels as other vegetables.
Big pot, like stock pot. Add tiny amount oil, fry bacon bits just until they begin to shed fond. Add onion chunks. Then mushrooms. Keep pot medium to medium-high heat and stirring gently to get browning on all ingredients.
Add carrots and garlic. Don't burn garlic, stir 2 minutes. Set aside contents in a bowl. Leave any fond for next step.
Medium or medium-low heat, a bit of oil, brown beef, not crowding pot (in batches). Treat beef shins like steaks. Remove, leave fond.
Deglaze with cognac. Add wine, bring up to strong simmer, reduce by one half, 4 minutes. Add beef stock. Reduce a bit, then beurre manié.
Add in beef. Cover pot, put in oven at 250° for 4-5 hours or 200° for 9 hours.
Add vegetables plus 2 bay leaves and bunch of thyme, back in oven for 1 more hour.
Remove herbs.
Serve over mashed potato.