I’ve never made Julia Child’s beef bourguignon and I’ve always wanted to make Julia Child’s beef bourguignon. And now I think I will never make Julia Child’s beef bourguignon.
It was a perfect day for a long slow cooking venture. Day off from work. Cold and snow outside. Nagging to-do list was more or less completed. All the ingredients were on hand. But some of the directions in the recipe were dragging me down. And some of the ingredients — like pearl onions.
And then Ruth Reichl’s newsletter dropped in. It contained a couple of suggestions to see us through the stormy weather. Beef, Wine, Onion stew was one of them.
The description — it was not a recipe — was a definite variation on the famous beef bourguignon but so liberating. No timing, no quantities — just a splash, a squirt, a pat, and as many as you feel like. And whatever. And no pearl onions.
I jotted down the plan on a sticky note and put a movie on my iPad.
Here’s what was on my note (sans the stuff in brackets):
STEP 1 — TO BROWN
— pat of butter
— lots of onions (I had 5 large ones)
— good bacon, lardons (there was a 7 oz chunk)
— carrots (I had 3)
— lots of garlic (I used 10 cloves)
— thyme (huge 5-finger pinch of dried)
— squirt of tomato paste at the end
STEP 2 — TO BROWN
— oil & butter
— beef: salt, pepper, flour (I had 3,5 lb chuck, 2”-cubed)
— deglaze with brandy
STEP 3 — 300°F, 3 HOURS
— good red wine (whole bottle)
— celery stalk
— bay leaf
STEP 4
— brown mushrooms in butter, mix in at the end (2,5 lb, quartered)
— boil potatoes to serve
— parsley to garnish
Amazing, amazing, amazing result!
For the movie — HBO put Mad Men back on. I’ve never seen it but read about it and wanted to give it a shot. Honestly, it watches like horror series.
#food #cooking #beefstew #beefbourguignon #inmykitchen #stormyweatherdinner #myhappyplace
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