I don’t know what possessed me to tackle this extensive cooking endeavor. It’s been a few years since I watched the movie, Julia Julie and I haven’t read Julia Child’s cookbook (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) recently.
So I’m not Julia Child or Julie Powell from the famous movie Julia Julie. But I am going to channel them both while I am cooking this wonderfully flavored Boeuf Bourguignon. Oh Yeah!
Before starting this recipe, make sure you set aside a couple of hours for assembly of ingredients, pre-cooking (sauteing and searing some items), oven time of about 1 1/2 hours, plus finishing on the stovetop for another 15-20 minutes. Believe me when I tell you it is worth your time!
Will all these ingredients fit into the pot?
Let’s fire this baby up! Cooking off the brandy before adding the wine.
Added one entire bottle of wine to the recipe. Well, maybe a sip for the cook?
Cook, cook, cooking away.
I served the Boeuf Bourguignon with spinach, strawberry & candied walnut salad, and popovers.
Want Something French in Your Life? Make Boeuf Bourguignon!
Ingredients
- 2 thick slices of pepper bacon, diced
- 2 1/2 pounds stew beef cut into bite-size cubes
- 1 pound carrots, sliced into bite-sized chunks
- 2 onions, sliced into big chunks
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup Brandy
- 1 (750 ml.) bottle dry red wine (I used Pinot Noir)
- Optional: beef broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 pound fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
- Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bacon should be browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Brown the beef in the hot oil for a few minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Cook in batches if needed. Remove the meat and set aside.
- Stir the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the same pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Pour the brandy into the pot and carefully ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices.
- Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Mix in the tomato paste and thyme.
- Bring the pot to a simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4- 1/2 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.
- While the pot is in the oven saute the mushrooms in a few tablespoons of butter for about 10 minutes until browned. Set aside.
- Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add in the cooked mushrooms. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.
The morning after serving this Boeuf Bourguignon one of the first things my hubby and I said to each other was “I can’t wait for dinner tonight to eat the leftovers!”.