Ingredients

• 1 – 1.5kg beef chuck steak, diced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1/2 bunch parsley stalks
• 350g middle bacon, rind removed, diced
• 2 cups red wine (shiraz, cabernet sauvignon)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 400g portabella mushrooms, chunky dice
• 1/2 head garlic, peeled, roughly chopped
• 8 golden shallots, peeled, chopped in half
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• Salt flakes, to taste
• 2 bunches dutch carrots or heritage carrots, trimmed, peeled, chopped in half
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 large celeriac, peeled, rough chunky dice
• 1 lemon or lime, for acidulated water
• 4 large potatoes, peeled, rough chunky dice
• 1 cup hot milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt, to taste

Method

• Step 1 After dicing up the beef, dry it well with absorbent paper towel. This will help achieve caramelisation.
• Step 2 To make a bouquet garni, place thyme, rosemary and parsley stalks in a tight bunch, wrap in muslin cloth and tie tightly in kitchen string. Alternatively if you don't have muslin cloth, just tie with kitchen string.
• Step 3 Place a tablespoon of olive oil into a large stockpot that is preferably not non-stick. When hot, add 1/3rd of the amount of beef, turn once after a few minutes or when it is brown and caramelised, brown the other side of the beef, then remove from pan and place in a large mixing bowl. Repeat process twice with remaining beef.
• Step 4 Add bacon to the stockpot and cook until golden and slightly crispy. When cooked, add to the bowl of beef.
• Step 5 At this stage, the bottom of the pan will have a lot of beef/bacon caramelisation build up on it, that is all great flavour that must be saved. Deglaze the pan by adding the red wine to the hot pan and using a plastic spatula scrape the build up off the base of the pan. Allow the red wine to reduce by half then reserve the liquid by pouring into the bowl with the beef and bacon. The bottom of the stockpot should now be relatively clean.
• Step 6 Add butter and a splash of olive oil to the stockpot, when butter has melted and is frothy add mushrooms, garlic and pearl onions or golden shallots, brown off and cook down for about 5 – 10 minutes until mushrooms have reduced in size by at least half.
• Step 7 Return reserved beef, bacon and red wine mixture to the pan. Add tomato paste, bay leaves, peppercorns and stir well.
• Step 8 Add 1 litre of water, herb bouquet garn and salt, stir well. Bring up to almost boiling point then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 2 – 3 hours. Top up with water if the liquid is reducing too quickly, stir occasionally.
• Step 9 Halfway into the cooking process add the heritage carrots.
• Step 10 To finish off your beef bourguignon, add flour and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl and mix well until a smooth paste forms. Add to the stockpot and stir well to thicken up, cook for a further 10 minutes on low heat. This will bring your ‘pie’ filling together. Season with salt to taste.
• Step 11 To make the celeriac mash, once the celeriac has peeled make up a bowl of water and squeeze in lemon or lime juice, or 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar, to place the celeriac in once you have peeled and diced it to prevent it from turning brown.
• Step 12 Add celeriac and potatoes in large pot of boiling water, boil for 15 – 20 minutes, or until softened. Drain. Add celeriac and potato into a food processor and blitz till smooth, add hot milk and butter continue pulsing until smooth and creamy. Season with salt. If the mixture is too runny to make a pie filling, place back into empty saucepan over medium heat and cook constantly stirring until mash thickens up.
• Step 13 To serve, use 1 – 1.5 cup capacity ramekins or individual small serving bowls, add pie filling, top with mash. Serve hot. Alternatively you can place under grill in oven before serving if you want to achieve a slightly golden coloured mash.