Boeuf Bourguignon

(Above: Be sure to dry the beef with paper towels before frying. Damp meat won’t brown properly.)

This is the classic beef bourguignon recipe from Julia Child’s “The Way to Cook” cookbook.

It is complicated and can take several hours but it is delicious.

If you’re looking for an easier recipe where you throw everything into a pot and wait 2 hours, try this one: Beef Bourguignon II: An Easier Recipe.

Either version goes well with this meal plan that features a side of torta d’patata: Julia Meets Bruna . We made that for a Christmas dinner party for six and there was plenty to go around.

Tricia holding a plate of beef stew — Tricia holds a plate of beef bourguignon with a slice of torta d’patata during a Christmas dinner party.

Boeuf BOURGUIGNON (From Julia Child)

October 15, 2018

Servings: 6-8

Total: 4 hr

Difficulty: Difficult

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By: Mark Micheli

Ingredients

3-4 pounds boneless beef stew meat cut into cubes.
Olive oil
2/3 cup of carrots
5-6 cups of red wine (I used my award-winning homemade zinfandel)
2-3 large, unpeeled cloves of garlic, smashed
2 cups of tomatoes (1 whole unpeeled tomato, cored and chopped, plus a can of drained Italian plum tomatoes)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme
Salt
4 tbs flour and 4 tbs of softened butter to make a paste for the finishing sauce, called “beurre-manie” sauce
24 small onions, cooked in oil until brown, and then braised over the stove in a mixture of chicken stock and red wine (which covers them only half way). Cook until tender but not falling apart.
3 cups of quartered mushrooms, cooked in oil and butter and chopped shallots, until tender and golden brown.

Directions

Step 1 Dry the meat with paper towels and then brown in batches in a large frying pan with a film of olive oil. Transfer browned beef into a large stockpot.
Step 2 Leave a spoonful of the fat in the frying pan and cook the sliced carrots, stirring and tossing until brown. And then scrape them out of the pan and into the stockpot with the beef.
Step 3 Pour a cup of wine over the hot frying pan and deglaze, scrapping up all of the bits on the bottom of the pan and then pour over the beef and carrots in the stockpot.
Step 4 Add the garlic and four more cups of wine to the stockpot. Fold in the tomatoes. Add the bay leaf, thyme, and salt to taste. The liquid should just about cover the beef. If it doesn’t add more.
Step 5 Bring to a simmer on top of the stove, and then cook at a slow simmer for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Step 6 Put a colander inside a sauce pan and drain mixture from stockpot. Rinse out the stockpot and put the beef and carrots back in it.
Step 7 Degrease the cooking liquid by skimming a spoon on top to take out the fat (about tablespoons or so). Boil the liquid to reduce it a little and adjust seasonings to your taste. You should have about 3 cups.
Step 8 Make the beurre-manie sauce by mixing the flour with the butter with very clean hands until if forms a paste or a lump, resembling dough. Whisk this into the cooking liquid until dissolved and then bring the mixture to a boil again so that the sauce thickens. (Note: If the sauce is not thick enough, make some more of the beurre-manie sauce and repeat.)
Step 9 Pour sauce over beef and carrots in the stockpot. And then fold in the onions and mushrooms. Simmer for about 2 minutes to blend all of the flavors.
Step 10 Serve on a plate with potatoes and a slice of crusty bread.Eat with a nice glass of zinfandel.