Julia Child's Bouef Bourguignon

Last night I received a rather jovial message on ‘The Book’ from an ardent admirer of both me and my blog (you know who you are), the content of which poked fun at the correlation between me and my blogging and the character of Amy Adams in the recent Julie and Julia film.

As with all comments, no matter how misdirected, I took this to heart immediately and have subsequently spent an epic 5 hours in the kitchen cooking, almost word for word, the recipe for Julia Child’s Bouef Bourguignon. As for the mischievous pixie whose request led to me pouring my blood, sweat, and half a bottle of Beaujolais into a casserole, this time you get off Scott free, next time you won’t be so lucky and you may find some auburn bread men dedicated to you.

I have converted the measurements from US into UK and 20^th to 21^st century, this should make it easier when preparing, rather than drenching your keyboard into grease like I’m doing this very second finding online measurement converters.

Ingredients: (Serves 6 ) – 5 hours prep and cook

1 pack of finest unsmoked bacon, cut into 1cm squares

Olive Oil

1.3kg lean stewing beef, cut into 2 inch cubes

1 carrot, sliced into circles

1 white onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons plain flour

400ml red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Burgundy or Mon Petit Amis)

800ml beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato purée

2 cloves garlic, mashed

½ tspn thyme

1 crumbled bay leaf

20 small round shallots, skin taken off

60g butter

Herb bouquet - 4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter tspn thyme, tied in cheesecloth

(For the above I just used a Bouquet Garni from Waitrose)

450g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

Method:

Preheat the oven to 230°C

1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a flame proof casserole and add the bacon bits, fry until brown and transfer onto kitchen towel to drain off the oil.

2. Pat the beef dry with paper towel and brown in the same casserole in batches, transferring to the plate with the bacon when done.

3. In the same fat, brown the sliced onion and carrot, pour out the excess fat, and return the beef to the casserole and toss with ½ tspn of salt and ¼ tspn of black pepper. Sprinkle the flour on top and toss again to lightly coat the beef before placing it, uncovered, in the middle of the preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat again and return to the oven for another 4 minutes – this browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.

4. Remove the casserole and turn the oven down to 160°C, stir in the red wine and around 500ml of stock, enough to just about cover the meat. Add the tomato purée, mashed garlic, thyme and bay leaf (I chucked in a bouquet garni here for good measure) and bring to a simmer on top of the cooker. Cover the casserole and return to the oven for 3 – 4 hours, stirring a couple of times between, the beef should become incredibly soft and tender.

5. Whilst the meat is cooking heat a tablespoon of butter with the same amount of olive oil in a thick bottomed frying pan, add the small whole shallots and sauté over a moderate heat for around 10 minutes, roll them around to get them smothered in the butter. Add 150ml of stock, salt and pepper and a bouquet garni, cover and simmer for 45 minutes until the onions are tender and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the bouquet garni and drain the shallots on kitchen paper.

6. Wipe the pan and add the same amount of butter and oil over a high heat, when sizzling add the mushrooms and toss them around for 5 minutes till they are cooked and browned.

7. When the meat is done Julia recommends that you - “Pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked shallots and mushrooms on top. Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 ½ cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few teaspoons of stock. Pour over the meat and vegetables and baste the beef several times”.

I simply added the shallots and mushrooms to the original casserole, mixed them in, and served with some parsley to garnish. It tasted absolutely delicious. I didn’t bother but some boiled new potatoes tossed in butter and chives would have gone perfectly with it.