Boeuf Bourguignon

There it is--the legendary--Boeuf Bourguignon. 

I have little orange original copy of Julia Child's The French Chef Cookbook that I use frequently. It's a collection of all the recipes she used on her television program, arranged by episode. Although her series usually featured a few recipes on each episode, the 96th show was dedicated exclusively to Boeuf Bourguignon. Make it right and you'll understand why. 

My little old book begins with the perfect quote from the chef herself, "When beef stew is in the oven, all's right with the world, and beef Bourguignon is the best beef stew known to man." Quite an introduction, Ms. Child, but spot on. 

When I made this recipe once before, something went wrong (probably in browning the beef correctly) that resulted in a tasty but not especially wonderful stew. Tried again with a few modifications from Julia's at times ambiguous recipe, the result was a show stopper. 

There are a lot of pictures with this recipe because it takes a lot of steps. See the recipe from Julia's book below for specific amounts of each ingredient. 

Start with a big, lean cut of beef and a meaty (not fatty) chunk of salt pork. If the pork has a tough rind, cut it off and discard, and also trim the excess fat from the beef. 

Beef--trimmed and cut into 2 inch by 2 inch chunks.

This is what Julia means by "lardons." Salt pork is usually sold pre-sliced  (similar to thick cut frying bacon), so just cut those slices into smaller bits. 

Now that the lardons are browned, remove them to the French oven without  taking much of the grease and fat out of the skillet. That's where the beef is heading!

Ok, this is pushing it on the amount of beef to add to the skillet at once... Separating the meat into two frying portions might help with the browning process in a smaller skillet. However, if possible, give all of the beef a chance to enjoy the bacon grease. Keeping the beef spread out enough as to prevent pieces stacking on top of each other is the key to browning--don't crowd it. 

See that piece to the right? That's 'browned.' All of the meat needs to have some degree of this crispy exterior before moving on. When that's happened, take out the beef and transfer to the French oven with the lardons, again preserving the grease and crust formed in the skillet. 

Pour the wine into the skillet and deglaze by stirring while bubbling. Make sure to brush  over the crunchy bits from the beef so that the bottom of the skillet feels clean and smooth. 

     

Pour the wine over the beef and lardons into the French oven. Notice that I allowed the wine to bubble in the skillet and stirred enough so that the pan looks 'clean' as the wine pours out. 

Once the wine is in the French oven, add the other stew ingredients--tomato paste, a bay leaf, a few garlic cloves (broken up) and some dried thyme. 

Add the beef broth and stir lightly to blend everything together. Some people insist upon making their own broths, but using a good quality pre-made broth (I like the Central Market or Pacific organic brands) will do just as well. 

Cover the casserole and stick it all in the lower portion of the oven.  For the first 20 minutes or so, continuously check the stew and regulate the temperature to keep it at a mild simmer. Mine found the right boil at about 235 degrees.

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While the stew is in the oven and close to being done, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Begin by dropping the onions into  some lively boiling water for a minute or so to loosen their skins. 

See, the boiling water is peeling the skins right off the onions. 

Drain the onions and cool them with cold water. Now, the skins should pop off  when you pinch the top of the onion with your fingers. 

Trim the onions up a little and set aside. I used a pair of kitchen shears to trim mine, which is easier than tackling these slippery guys with a knife. Note that these are not yet cooked--that comes later. 

Brown the mushrooms in butter and oil. Again, like the beef, don't crowd them and make sure to get a crispy brown effect. 

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Now the stew is ready to come out of the oven. 

This is the prepared butter and flour mixture that will thicken up the stew for serving. Said little orange book pictured in the background. 

Remove the beef from the casserole, removing as little juice as possible. Next, remove about 3/4 cup of the juice and stir into the flour and butter mixture. When it's reached a smooth consistency, add that mixture back into the juice in the casserole. 

Cook the previously prepared onions by boiling in a saute pan with butter and salt. Remove the onions after boiling for about 25 minutes and add the onion-boiling water to the beef juices in the casserole. 

Now add everything--the beef, the bacon, the mushrooms, and the onions--back to the stew. Mix it all up and let everything settle a few minutes before serving.  

This dish is served in a variety of ways--some like it over egg noodles, others over rice or potatoes.

Boeuf Bourgion, adapted from The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child. 

          Tools: Large French oven or similar covered baking casserole, frying skillet for beef, bacon, and mushrooms. 

6 oz. salt pork, more meaty than fatty, and sliced into bite-sized bits

Olive oil or cooking oil

3 lb. lean beef roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch by 2-inch chunks (roughly) 

3 cups of a decent red wine. I used a $10 bottle of cab sauvignon. Keep in mind that the taste of this wine will play a direct 

        role in the taste of the stew, so don't get anything terrible. 

2 cups beef broth 

1 Tb tomato paste

3 big cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper as necessary

1 lb fresh mushrooms

6 tablespoons butter

18-24 small white pearl onions

3 Tb Flour

Preheat oven to 300. Simmer bacon in saucepan of boiling water for about 10 minutes, drain, rinse in cold water, and dry. Brown the bacon in the skillet you intend to brown the beef in. Add a small amount of cooking oil and allow the bacon to form a nice, crispy brown color. Once browned, remove to the baking casserole or French oven.

Now brown the beef chunks in the hot bacon fat. If the skillet is getting dry, add a little more oil and get it hot before adding any beef. Place the beef chunks, as they finish browning, into the casserole with the bacon pieces.

Add the wine to the bacon/beef skillet, and deglaze by stirring gently until all the tasty bits come off the bottom of the skillet. The bottom of the skillet should almost feel 'clean' before moving to the next step.

Pour wine out of skillet and into the baking casserole, on top of the beef and pork. Now add the tomato paste, garlic cloves (peeled and broken up), thyme, bay leaf, and beef broth. If necessary, add more beef broth as to just cover the beef in the casserole with liquid. Mix everything and bring the stew to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover the casserole and stick it into the lower portion of your preheated oven.

For the first 20 minutes or so, open the casserole periodically and regulate the oven temperature as to keep the stew simmering. You don't want it to not bubble, but you also don't want it to boil too hard. Just a slight bubbling will do--my oven got it right at about 235 degrees. Allow the stew to simmer in the oven for about 2.5 to 3 hours, until the beef starts to break apart with a fork. Hint: a little longer, and the beef will become so tender as to fall apart.

While the beef is cooking in the oven, prepare the mushrooms and onions.

The onions need to be dropped into boiling water for a minute or so in order to loosen their skins for peeling. It's okay to discard the peeling water, but remember you will save the water used to cook the onions (later) for the stew. Remove the peel from the onions by pinching the top side of the onion in your fingers until the 'heart' of the onion pops out. Discard the peels and trim the onions for use with kitchen scissors or shears. Place the prepared and peeled onions into a medium saucepan big enough to hold all of them in a single layer. Fill the saucepan about half-full with water, add 1 Tb butter and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until onions are tender. Remove onions and set aside, but preserve onion boiling water for the stew.

Slice the mushrooms and brown in a large skillet with oil and 2 Tb. butter. Season with salt and pepper as they cook. Don't crowd the mushrooms, so that they can each become nicely browned. Like the beef, you want them to have brown, almost crispy sides--they won't be as good if they're wet and limp!

After the beef has become tender in the oven, remove the casserole and uncover. With a slotted spoon, remove all of the beef and whatever bacon you can out of the casserole and set aside. There should be about 2.5 cups of juice remaining in the casserole. Prepare a paste of 3 Tb. butter and 3 Tb. flour in a separate bowl. Remove some (about 3/4 cup) of the cooking juices from the casserole and mix into the separate bowl of butter and flour paste. Blend with a wire wish until smooth, and then stir the mix back into the main casserole. Now add the onion-boiling juice to the casserole and mix everything together. Bring this mix to a simmer on the stove.

Once the juices in the casserole are simmering, add the beef and bacon back in. Also add the boiled onions and browned mushrooms into the mix. Stir everything together until distributed evenly, and allow to simmer just a few more minutes.

Serve over your choice of egg noodles, rice, or potatoes.