Julia Child's Master Recipe for Beef Bourguignon, in Red Wine
- Ready In:
- 3hrs 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 25
- Yields:
-
4 lbs
- Serves:
- 6-8
ingredients
- 8 sprigs parsley
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 whole cloves or 4 allspice berries
- 3 large cloves, smashed unpeeled cloves of garlic
- cheesecloth
- 6 ounces sliced bacon
- 2 -3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 lbs trimmed beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
- salt
- pepper
- 2 cups sliced onions
- 1 cup sliced carrot
- 750 ml red wine (1 bottle, such as zinfandel or chianti)
- 2 cups beef stock or 2 cups better than bouillon beef bouillon
- 1 cup chopped tomato, fresh or canned
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons kerry irish gold sweet butter
- 24 brown-braised white pearl onions
- 1 -2 tablespoon kerry irish gold sweet butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 cups sauteed quartered mushrooms (this is 3/4 lb)
- 1⁄2 tablespoon chopped shallot, if desired
directions
- Make herb bouquet and tie in washed cheesecloth the following: 8 sprigs parsley, 1 large bay leaf, 1 t dried thyme, 4 whole cloves or allspice berries and 3 large cloves of smashed, unpeeled garlic together in a small square of washed cheesecloth. Can substitute with celery leaves and/or washed split leeks.
- Dry out the beef chunks by salting and peppering each and letting them sit at room temperature.
- Saute the bacon slices and set aside on paper towels.
- Choose a large frying pan and brown beef chunks on all sides in bacon grease, being careful not to crowd the meat. Turn browned meat into a heavy ovenproof casserole.
- Remove all but a little of the fat from the pan and add the sliced vegetables. Brown them and add them to the beef chunks in the casserole pot.
- Deglaze the pan with the wine and then pour liquid into the casserole with the meat and carrots and onions. Add enough beef stock or bouillon to almost cover all.
- Stir in the tomatoes and add the herb bouquet.
- Bring to a simmer over medium to medium-high heat. Cover and simmer slowly, either on the stove over a low heat or in a preheated oven set to 325 degrees. Cook until the meat is tender, tasting to check.
- Cook, "brown-braised" onions as follows: Peel onions, heat butter and oil in a medium pan and saute in one layer until colored. Cover onions with a little water, salt to taste and 1 tsp sugar. Cover pan and cook at a rapid boil for 10-15 minutes, or until tender.
- To saute mushrooms, quarter washed mushrooms. Heat 1-1/2 TBS of butter and 1.2 TBS olive oil in a large frying pan and when the foaming has subsided, turn in the mushrooms. Saute for several minutes, tossing frequently as the butter is absorbed and then reappears on the surface when the mushrooms begin to brown. Toss in 1/2 TBS chopped shallots, if desired, season with salt and pepper and saute another 30 seconds.
- Drain the meat and vegetables through a colander into a saucepan, pressing the juices out of the residue. Return the meat to the casserole pot and degrease the pan.
- Boil the liquid down to 3 cups.
- Off heat, whisk in the beurre manie [3 T flour mixed into a paste with 2 T softened butter) and add to cooking liquid. Simmer for 2 minutes as the sauce thickens slightly.
- Correct seasonings and pour over the meat, folding in the sauteed onions and mushrooms. {May be completed to this point a day in advance for a dinner party).
- To serve, bring to a simmer, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce for several minutes until thoroughly hot throughout.
- Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes, TINKYADA brown rice pasta or a very good French bread or baguettes.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
56, an Army brat who has lived in 20 different locations [born in germany, went to kindergarten in japan] including new york city, palo alto CA, maine, georgia, chicago, after growing up in small-town kansas...
have some fabulous recipes from well-traveled army people...
recently started adding just a splash of bourbon or brandy to real maple syrup - and it really gives french toast or pancakes a special, more sophisticated flavor...
a friend jokes that bourbon is my new "secret ingredient" that i'll be adding to everything - it's not true but i'm telling you - you should try it! it's really very good [for adults, anyway]
sugarpea's apple pancake recipe is a deadringer for Walker Brothers Pancake House in north shore Chicago - i've searchd for this for 34 years - and it's easy as well as To Die For!!!
the Dutch Baby pancake is a huge seller there too - with the same gooey comfort-food but elegant batter...
also if you search for lettuce wrap - the 2 recipes for PF Chang's come up... this is also SO GOOD, truly a memorable entree...
for cookbooks: With a Jug of Wine, More Recipes With a Jug of Wine were written by the San Francisco Chronicle food writer decades ago - and most everything in them is superb - and i learned a lot as a new cook, young wife, from reading through them in the late 1970s... i got a [very French] sense of food as a way of life