Bouef: It's What's for Dinner

I haven't "mastered the art of French cooking" (far from it, actually), but I may have aced my first go at Julia Child's bouef bourguignon. 

Jordan works every other weekend at what we'll call The Sandwich Shop (a cute local deli) and I take those opportunities to try my hand at hard core housewifery. I run silly errands (like getting my car washed on a 60% chance of thunderstorms day) and other relevant ones, like going to our local farmer's market, clean the house and attempt to have a wonderful dinner waiting for when he gets off of work. 

Last weekend, my dad found a copy of the 1970s era cookbook From Julia Child's Kitchen at a flea market for $3. I've been reading a lot about her this summer, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking is on our wedding registry, but this is my first Julia recipe. 

I tried to make the experience as authentic as possible with pearls, of course, and by using as many fresh and local ingredients as possible, like Julia would have found in neighborhood French markets. 

I served this with a cauliflower puree (with the sauce on top) and it was a great meal. The cookbook indicates several make-ahead-and-stop-here points, where you can halt and finish or re-heat later. I think this would be a great dish for a dinner part and can apparently be made (or at least started) up to two days in advance. 

Here's the original recipe with my notes in italics. And of course, "Bon Appetit!" 

Bouef Bourguignon: Brown beef stew in red wine

Serves 6-8 I halved the recipe to make us two good meals

- Optional, but recommended for flavor, a 5- to 6-ounce chunk of fat-and-lean fresh side pork, or salt pork or bacon chunk (I used sliced salt pork, simmered in 2 quarts of water to remove extra salt)

- Olive oil

- 3-4 lbs. beef stew meat cut into either 2-inch cubes or 3-inch strips

- Optional 1 sliced carrot (I used it)

- 3 cups strong young wine, such as Macon, Mountain Red, Gamay (I used the Kitchen Sink red table wine we already had and only 1 cup for the initial deglazing)

- 2 or more cups excellent homemade beef stock; or canned beef boullion plus any available beef bones and scraps (I used organic, low sodium beef stock)

- 1 imported bay leaf (we'll assume mine are imported, I don't know where they're from!) 

- 1 tsp thyme

- A 2-inch piece of dried orange peel, or 1/3 tsp bottled dried peel (I happened to have an orange and used a slice of fresh peel)

- 1 moderately large tomato and 1 Tbs tomato paste

- 2 or more cloves of garlic (I used minced, which I had on hand, rather than buy a fresh clove)

- Salt and pepper to taste

- Beurre manie for the final sauce: 3 Tbs flour blended with 2 1/2 Tbs soft butter (I did not halve this, as I seemed to have a lot of broth left to thicken; blend it with a fork to make a paste)

- 18-24 fresh white pearl onions

- 1/2 lb button mushrooms, stems removed

Cut the optional pork into lardons (sticks 1/4 in x 1 1/2 in long); saute slowly in 1 Tbs of oil in the frying pan for 5 minutes or until lightly browned, then remove lardons and set aside. Heat the fat they have rendered and/or enough oil to film the pan, to very hot but not smoking. Meanwhile, dry the beef with paper towels and add as many pieces to pan as will fit in 1 layer without crowding (they mus have room or they will steam rather than brown). Brown nicely on all sides, regulating heat so fat is always very hot but not smoking. Add more oil if needed (I added 1-2 more Tbs), and when one piece of meat is browned transfer it to casserole (I used a La Crueset-style dutch oven) and add another piece of beef until all are browned. Stir in the optional sliced carrot and brown briefly (2 minutes), then transfer with a slotted spoon to casserole. Pour browning fat out of frying pan and discard; pour a cup of wine (my preference) or stock into pan, bring to simmer, scraping up coagulated browning juices, and pour this liquid over the beef. 

Set casserole over heat; add the optional wine and enough stock (or boullion/scraps/bones) barely to cover the meat. Add the bay, thyme and orange peel; wash the tomato and chop it roughly, and add it to the beef along with the tomato paste and the unpeeled garlic cut in half. Bring to the simmer, taste, and salt if necessary (maybe because of the low sodium broth, I added at least a Tbs of extra salt). Cover and cook at a slow simmer either on top of the stove or in the oven (I used the stove top and constantly adjusted heat to keep it simmering but not boiling) - for oven cooking, start at 350 degrees, then lower heat in 20 to 30 minutes to 325 or even 300 degrees. 

The stewing process for me lasted about a 90 minutes, but according to Julia is based on cut of meat. She says "it must not overcook and fall apart when served, but it must be tender enough for a pleasant chew." At 60-minutes in, I started the next tasks. 

(After peeling the pearl onions) Pierce a cross 3/8 inch deep in root ends to prevent them from bursting during cooking. Place in a heavy saucepan, add 1/2 inch of water, a pinch of salt and the browned lardons. Cover and simmer slowly, tossing occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until onions are just tender when pierced with a knife. Set aside. 

Leave (mushrooms) whole if 3/4 inch across or less; halve or quarter lengthwise if larger. Film a frying pan with oil, heat to very hot but not smoking, and add enough mushrooms to cover the bottom of the pan; toss (shake pan by handle) over high heat for 2-3 minutes until mushrooms are lightly browned. Add them to the cooked onions and proceed with the rest of the mushrooms (if any in the same manner). 

When beef is tender, set a large colander over a sauce pan and pour contents of casserole into colander. Wash out casserole and return meat to it. Press juices out of remains in colander, and discard residue. Skim fat off cooking liquid in saucepan, and taste liquid very carefully for strength and seasoning. You should have about 3 cups of delicious meaty rich stock. Boil down rapidly if weak, to concentrate flavor adding a bit more stock or boullion or wine, herbs, garlic or tomato paste if you feel them necessary (5 minutes-ish). Remove from heat blend the beurre manie into the liquid with a wire whisk (beat until you see no more lumps and butter has melted). Bring to the boil, stirring, as it thickens into a light sauce (2 minutes tops), check seasoning. 

Arrange the onions, mushrooms and lardons over the beef in the casserole along with any onion cooking juices. Pour on the sauce and let simmer 5 to 6 minutes, basting meat and vegetables with the sauce to blend flavors. Stew is now ready to serve, or may be set aside and re-heated.