Sunday

Beef Bourguignon



Inspired by Julia Child and adapted by Ina Garten, this recipe should be rated as one of the most challenging I've tried! If you haven't already, pick up a copy of "Julia and Julia", and inspire yourself to take a stab at recreating this slow-cooked comfort dish. My motivation was to create a dinner just for Angela, and the hours poured into preparing this meal were well worth it. Gathering the ingredients alone was already a challenge, as shown below:

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • 8 ounces dry cured center cut applewood smoked bacon, diced
  • 2 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
  • 2 yellow onions, sliced
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
  • 1/2 cup Cognac
  • 1 (750 ml.) bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
  • 1 can (2 cups) beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 pound frozen whole onions
  • 1 pound fresh mushrooms stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

For serving:

  • Country bread or Sour Dough, toasted or grilled and rubbed with garlic clove
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional
The first step was to dice the applewood smoked bacon and sautee in a pan.

Next, the beef cubes were seasoned with salt and pepper and seared.
I decided to add some cucumbers and italian squash for a better variety of vegetables, and also because I like my dishes colorful! These were all chopped and stir-fried in a skillet.


I had fun finding out exactly what cognac was suitable for cooking, and went with Hennessy. This was added to the huge pot of veggies.
And of course, a whole bottle of pinot noir.


Look good?

Next, the mushrooms and onions were chopped and sauteed.
Let simmer for a few hours, however tender you like your meat to be. I left this for about 2 hours. And the final result:
Serve with a side of toasted baguette and butter.
Angela approves!!!
What a fun experience, do try it yourself if you're up for a challenging day of cooking. ;D

- Candice
------------------------------------------------------------

1 comment:

  1. mm! If you have a slow cooker, it cuts out the babysitting part from the cooking. But certainly, the prep work is tiring D:

    Good luck on finals!!

    ReplyDelete