Friday, June 2, 2023

Ms. Julia would be so proud, she might say, "Bon Appetite!"

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".



 I am certain I viewed all of Julia's TV cooking shows, from the first amateurish grainy black and white shows in 1962 through the final series she did with Jacques Pépin in 1998.

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.


 

 Ingredients:

 - 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


 


 Directions:

 Here is the beef. I am certain carefully cut pieces from a well trimmed roast are best. However, my experience is that stew meat works just as well.


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 fat used to brown the beef is rendered from pork with 2 or 3 Tablespoons of olive oil added. The first cooking step is to render the fat from the 1/4 pound of bacon or salt pork. A good way to render the pork is to add it to the hot Dutch oven that will be used for cooking the dish then adding a half cup of water. As the water cooks away, the fat is rendered. When the bacon is crisp, it is removed and set aside.

 


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.


 

 And the additions (the things that turn the beef into bourguinon) are set up. Carrots and Celery, Bouquet Garni, Bay Leaves Tomato Paste, Wine and Beef Broth or Stock.

 


The onions are sautéed:

 



 

The bacon is broken into pieces and added.

 


 and the beef

 


  and then the veggies, bay leaves and bouquet garni


 

 the beef stock and wine are added to a level equal to the top of the beef - maybe 2 cups broth and 2 or 3 cups wine.


Finally the tomato paste and garlic.

 


 The Dutch oven is covered and goes into the oven at 325 degrees F. It is cooked until the beef is fork tender. In this case, for two and a half hours.


 

 While the dish cooks, make thick grits (cream, butter, water and grits - cooked until very thick at my house). Julia would be proud that I cook my grits with butter and heavy cream since those were two ingredients she loved to use.




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.

 


 


 



 This is a nice Saturday evening meal. For us, it is also provides excellent leftovers for Sunday lunch.

 




Thanks for looking at my post.
God Bless You.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

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'!

Anonymous said...

I am stuck at work with no lunch (yet) and drooling over the pics.

Well done!

Anonymous said...

I remember watching the film, “Julie & Julia” with Amy Adams.

Anonymous said...

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.

Anonymous said...

SOS

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

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.

Anonymous said...

No salt in the grits?!

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

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.

Pierre LA Fridge said...

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

MBrookes said...

The Saturday Night Live skit on Julia Child is one of the funniest they ever did!

Anonymous said...

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!


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