This recipe is an original from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Today would have been Julia Child’s 100th Birthday! In honor of Julia, I wanted to share one of her original recipes from, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. So you might be wondering why I choose this recipe out of the 524 that compose her cookbook. Well, this one holds a soft spot in my heart. The best way I can figure to explain my connection with Beef Bourguignon is to share a part of an essay I had to write in culinary school. Wait wait, please don’t leave or scroll past this just yet….I promise it wont be too boring! The assignment was to write about why we wanted to study culinary….My essay is actually quite personal and I have never shared it with anyone, of course, with the obvious exception of my professor and I must admit I am a bit anxious about it.
By the way, I received an A, so even if this does evoke a yawn, at least you know it must have been well written, right?!?!? I’ll keep it fairly short:
“Then ,one day, my boyfriend asked me to recreate his favorite childhood dish that his mother always used to prepare for him back home in France. He wanted me to cook him Beef Bourguignon and Potatoes Au Gratin. Just imagine my shock! With the exception of Ramon Noodles, I had never cooked in my life. Although I had no idea how I was supposed to impress him with my cooking especially when being compared to his French mothers cooking, I agreed to do so under the agreement that I needed time to prepare for this special occasion. I researched everything about these dishes. I secretly practiced preparing them every moment I was able to separate myself from him. My dread turned to pure excitement. The recipes were coming along and all I had to do now was convince him. The big dinner came. He was shocked. I was shocked. “My” Beef Bourguignon and “my” Potatoes Au Gratin impressed him! The next thing I knew, I found myself buying every cookbook in site and spending sleepless nights researching more exciting recipes online. Every morning I woke with immediate thoughts about the dinner I was going to prepare that evening. I loved cooking. The only thing I loved more was the look of happiness on people’s faces as they ate my dishes and mingled with their friends. Not only did cooking allow me to satisfy my thirst for creativity, I also liked how food served as a common element that brings people together and offers the opportunity to both build new relationships and strengthen existing ones. Then one day I woke up and just knew that I needed to have my career as a chef. Several months later, I was enrolled as a culinary student”.
There you have it, the first ever recipe I followed…the recipe that has led me down this path and has made me the chef that I am today, Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon. So I must say, I keep this one a bit dear to my heart and I refuse to change any part of her original.
I feel obligated to tell you, this recipe is a bit more complicated then the ones I have posted in the past and it will take you some time to finish. So if your up for the challenge, grab yourself a glass of wine and hit the cutting board! If I could do it, SO CAN YOU!!!!
Yields 6
Prep time: 45 Minutes
Total Time: 4 Hours
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INGREDIENTS:
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups red wine (burgundy)
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 crumbled bay leaf
18 to 24 small peeled white onions (about 1″ in diameter)
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered
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DIRECTIONS:
1. Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
4. Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.
5. In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
6. Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
7. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
8. Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).
9. Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
10. Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
11. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
12. Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
13. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
14. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
15. Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.
16. Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.
17. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
18. Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.
19. Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.
20. When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.
21. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
22. Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
23. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.
24. Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.
25. Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.
26. Please leave your experiences with this recipe in the comments section below.
27. Add a pinch of love.
28. Share and Enjoy!
You see, It’s truly simple: take some good quality ingredients, add a pinch of love to your cooking and bonappetit…..a delicious homemade meal for you and your loved ones!!!!
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