Julia Child's BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

Yes, I did it! The recipe that made us all drool last year during Julie & Julia. On the surface, yes, it is beef stew. But, it is the best beef stew you are ever going to eat. This dish lives up to it's hype.

Under the heading of "who the heckfire am I?". I made two alterations. Actually, only one to the recipe, and then I added a step for future leftovers...

My addition... I was surprised at the slim amount of vegetables in the stew. I made the stew as instructed, but the recipe calls for only 1 carrot, sliced and cooked with the beef for 3 hours, obviously by serving time, it would flavor the gravy, but the actual carrots will have little flavor, and no bite for texture.

SO, I added 4 sliced carrots at the same time I added the tiny onions and mushrooms (towards the end). Small change, but it added a bit of color, texture and taste to the final product. I liked it like this. But who am I to make any changes to a classic?

One additional comment... That gravy... OMG, no wait, it deserves better than abbreviations... OH MY GOD, was that gravy good. I deglazed, I spooned every tiny left over bit, and added a bit of wine, broth and made some more of this great tasting stuff. As much as possible, non of the gravy ever ended up in the dishwasher. Fresh bread was used to sop it up, taters were zapped to coat and it was treated as precious gold. It is the best gravy I have ever tasted. Next time I make this, I am going to add extra liquid with the purpose of draining some half way through the cooking to make a gallon of the gravy... It is that good. Any "real" cooks have advice on how I can get extra gravy out of this, please let me know.

I am always careful about copyright issues, and did not want to post the actual recipe. I did use the book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" directly to cook mine. However, in researching the post, I have found the recipe everywhere, including Oprah's website, ABC and the publisher's own website. So, I am assuming it is OK to post this. If not, no infringement is intended, and if you are the owner of the copyright, please let me know and I will remove it. So, having CMA (cover my ass), here is a copy of the original recipe (But I really do encourage you to get a hold of a copy of the book (every library has a copy you can check out for FREE!)...

Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew in Red Wine with Bacon, Onions and Mushrooms) from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1" by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle

Ingredients
(Mise en Place)

• 1 6-ounce chunk of bacon
• 1 9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole 3 inches deep
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
• 1 slotted spoon
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 sliced onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups of a full-bodied young red wine such as one of those suggested for serving or a Chianti
• 2-3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• a crumbled bay leaf
• the blanched bacon rind
• 18-24 small white onions (brown-braised in stock)
• 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms sauteed in butter
• parsley sprigs

Remove rind and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2-inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Saute the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you saute the beef.

Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Saute it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sauteing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 21/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.

(*) Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

FOR IMMEDIATE SERVING

Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

FOR LATER SERVING

When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

This is worth the effort, and lives up to everything you have heard!

Now, if you read yesterday's post, you remember that I was nominated for the above award. I listed 6 lies and 1 truth about me. Click on the award to get to yesterday's post to read the "mostly" lies. It is such a fun award, and since each of the lies are just a bit true, I am going to stretch the reveal out for a few days, taking just one of the lies each day and telling the story.

So, the first NOT TRUE statement that I will reveal is that #7 is wrong. A few of you tried to guess which one is true, but #7 was never guessed. BTW, feel free to return to the post and make a comment guessing which is true.

#7 read - "My ex-wife is a practicing Wicken. So when I use the phrase, "colder than a witches tit", I actually know how cold they can be". Now personally, I loved this one. It is so good, I wish it were true. But aside from her heart being so cold that it must affect the temperature of the organs near it, it is not true.

OK, see you tomorrow for the next not truth.