Saturday, August 22, 2009

Recipe: Beef Bourguignon Inspired Turkey Stew

Beef Bourguignon Inspired Turkey StewI wouldn't say it was cold here today, but it is rainy and that is a good enough reason to make some comfort food on a Saturday night. My wife and kids continually challenge me to come up with ways to cook my traditional favorites without the beef. Like most red blooded men, I wouldn't believe that there is any replacement for beef especially when making beef bourguignon (duh its got the word beef in it). That being said, if you cook this for your family I would guess no ones notices that it is not beef. The meat falls apart, but maintains its moisture and the sauce has such depth of flavour you have to serve it with potatoes and bread to sop it all up! All this being said, replace the Turkey and chicken stock with Beef and you have an amazing meal as well.

Cooking the turkey

The Recipe: Beef Bourguignon Inspired Turkey Stew

3 lbs Cube Turkey Thighs (3/4 inch)
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne
3 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp of oil
1 cup of diced shallots
4-6 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups of diced tomatoes (I use fresh)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup of red wine (medium to full body)
1/2 cup of chicken stock

20 small button mushrooms sauteed separately
pinch of sea salt
pinch of fresh group pepper
1 tbsp butter

Mix 1 tsp salt, flour, cayenne, paprika and chili powder together and cover cubed turkey thighs. Use your hands to work the rub onto the cubes. Heat a pot over high heat until up to temperature and add the butter and olive oil (the olive oil will increase the burning point of the butter so that it can withstand the higher heat). Place the cubes in the pan one at a time and ensure that you hear a sizzle when you are placing the cubes in the pot. Make sure all the pieces are touching the bottom of the pot (I assume you do not have a large enough pot to put all the turkey in the same batch, hence you will need to repeat these steps with a second batch). Sear each side for about 1 minute each until a nice crust appears. Once the meat is seared on each side remove it from the pan and set it aside.

In the same hot pan, add you shallots and stir for about 4 minutes. Turn down the heat or add some more oil if you are worried about burning the shallots (you can add any juices that has settled off the turkey that has been set aside back to the pot to help saute the shallots). Add the the garlic on top of the shallots and continue stirring for another minute (if the garlic hits the pot directly they may burn, hence it is best to temper them in). Add the diced tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce and continue cooking for about 3-5 minutes, stirring consistently, until your tomatoes have lost there shape. Letting the stew simmerAdd the red wine and continue cooking for another 2 minutes, ensuring you are back up to a boil. Add the stock and bring back up to a boil, cooking the liquid for about 2 minutes. Add the turkey thighs back in and reduce heat to medium-low. Let the stew simmer for about 1 hour, partially covered, stirring occasionally.

The sauce should thicken up from the flour that was used to dredge the turkey. Saute the mushrooms separately in a pan and add the to the stew at the end. Serve with bread and potatoes so everyone can sop up all the juices!

2 comments:

lisaiscooking said...

This sounds great! I don't eat red meat, so I sub in turkey and chicken for a lot of beef and pork dishes. Perfect with potatoes.

Vanilla and Thyme said...

This is one recipe I will love! The turkey sounds more appetizing to me than traditional beef. Thanks for sharing-

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