or how to make Beef Bourguignon
Way back when, as in BFC (Before Food Channel), Boston Public TV station WGBH took a risk and offered former OSS Top Secret Spy Lady, cook book author, and creative developer of an effective WWII era shark repellent that is still in use today, a chance to expose America to the somewhat exotic art of French Cooking. Julia Child made good use of her 1951 degree from the famed Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and began entertaining home cooks in the summer TV pilot season of 1962. For the rest of her life, Julia never shied away from telling us when in doubt, we should "Add some butter".
One of Julia's best efforts at convincing us to cook French stuff was her demonstration of cooking Beef Bourguignon; the dish featuring morsels of beef simmered to tenderness in a rich red wine gravy. Here is my version of Julia's famed beef in red wine gravy dish. I am a Southern boy, so I am fond of serving mine over thick grits. IMO, Julia would be fine with that choice.
- 3 pounds Beef
Chuck or Rump. In my version, beef stew meat, containing any or all I mentioned.
- 1/4 pound thick sliced Bacon, or fat back
- 2 or 3 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 2 or 3 Tablespoons AP flour
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots and a stick and a half of celery to season the gravy as the beef
cooks
- 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Black Pepper
- 2 cups beef stock (I used Better than Bullion)
- A Bouquet Garni made with 1 sprig rosemary, 4-5 sprigs Parsley, 4-5 sprigs of
thyme - all fresh from our herb bed and secured with a piece of twine.
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- Wine - In this case, Pinot Noir - A note you have heard before - I only use
wine that I would drink in my cooking
The cuts need to
be dry and seasoned with pepper and a little salt. Then they are floured with a
couple of Tablespoons of AP flour. The amount of flour directly impacts the
thickness of the gravy that will form as the dish is cooked. More flour will
require more beef broth and wine be added to make sufficient gravy for the
dish.
The flour coated beef
is browned in batches. I browned my three pounds in three batches. It is
browned lightly - to rare stage and set aside.
Next the onions
and garlic are prepped.
The onions are
sautéed:
The bacon is broken into pieces and added.
Finally the tomato paste and garlic.
The bourguignon comes out of oven. The carrots, celery, bay leaves and Bouquet Garni are removed, and the meal is plated with buttered crusty bread.
11 comments:
Looks delicious! I'm having a Le Cornu range installed right now and have been thinking about what I should do for it's first dish. Thanks to you it will be beef bourguignon... very fitting! Keep 'em comin'!
I am stuck at work with no lunch (yet) and drooling over the pics.
Well done!
I remember watching the film, “Julie & Julia” with Amy Adams.
Diving down a rabbit hole yesterday I found myself reading about Robert McNamara and learned that his wife was a world-class cook and his favorite she made for him was beef bourguignon. So I resolved to make it for myself soon, and along you come with the recipe for it. Thanks. This is well done.
Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” is available for download at archive.org,you know. It’s on my iPad in pdf and is something I browse often, although, ooof, it’s practically a textbook and the reading can be d e n s e.
SOS
If you like beef, with gravy then this dish will be a nice addition to your cooking repertoire. We do this one all the time, even for just the two of us. It can be served with rice, noodles, potatoes, or my favorite way, which is over grits, sometimes cheese grits but I prefer it over straight buttery grits.
No salt in the grits?!
Salt in Grits?
I guess that was my every post mistake - That I seem to be famous for making. Yes, the grits should have salt, to package directions. Unsalty grits are made in Zambia, called Nshima. I have had them and they are quite bland. I'll make a post one day on how to make Nshima.
Dayum! For thirty-five-thousand, I would demand free shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/225341826521?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1u-0RbnsHRJC4K_-rSFc9YA58&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=225341826521&targetid=1587262742097&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9013723&poi=&campaignid=19894961968&mkgroupid=148855406073&rlsatarget=pla-1587262742097&abcId=9307911&merchantid=6296724&gclid=CjwKCAjwyeujBhA5EiwA5WD7_TQKFhgZlDvQxpaZtGSHKLS1FLvEiynoq7kvpEqvPfbNRrev6YngeRoCMH4QAvD_BwE
The Saturday Night Live skit on Julia Child is one of the funniest they ever did!
80 years ago my grandmother made steak and gravy but she never knew it had this fancy name. She thought it was just a blade cut from an old cow on the place, some flour and some water. Land Sakes!
Post a Comment