09 November 2009

JC's Beef Bourguignon

Vegetarian friends may want to cast away their eyes. This meal was all about the meat!

Beef Bourguignon was one of those dishes I had heard about, but figured I'd never make it. My good friend Olivia though, being the excellent cook that she is, had been talking of making it for some time now. Then the book came out. You know which one,
Julie and Julia. Shortly after, the movie with the phenomenal Streep and Adams. (Though I didn't like how Julie was portrayed as much in the movie, in her book, she's way less whiny, more charming and writes so hysterically, it will bust your gut). Needless to say, my interest was piqued.

This is how I found myself at the farmers market with Olivia to pick up a few ingredients to create this dish yesterday. We used the recipe that can be found
here. I believe it's slightly altered, but pretty much the same as in Julia Child's book.

JC's Beef Bourguignon

There were a lot of steps, but it was much more manageable with a friend, two sets of hands, and a brewsky each. We followed the recipe step by step, dried the meat off before browning (which really does help), and washed a ton of dishes. Olivia's husband walked in the door and said he could smell it cooking from two blocks away! I kept going on and on when the adorable pearl onions were sauteeing in butter with an herb bouquet. I had to cut myself off from exclaiming, "have you ever smelled anything so wonderful?"

We started at 4 P.M. We cut the cooking time to 2-1/2 hours so that we could eat around 7 P.M. instead of 8 or 9. In between, we made an apple crisp, roasted fingerling potatoes, a light salad with a medly of pink radishes, did a little bit of knitting (me) and piano playing (definitely not me).

The Beef Bourguignon was divine. We felt so accomplished sitting in our aprons after all the cooking, dramatically fake sighing and asking the guys to fawn us with compliments on the meal. We watched a tad bit of football while drinking a beer (in our aprons), which made us feel like quite the well rounded modern day women. Will I make it again? Certainly. Will I be willing to try out a more simplified recipe? Absolutely!

However, I'm more convinced than ever that I will add a
Le Creuset 5 quart French Oven (in red) on my wedding registry.

P.S.
Susan, this recipe is for you. Have at it, lady.

P.P.S. I forgot to draw the stewing beef. How inappropriate!

10 comments:

Robin said...

No pictures of the finished dish? You're leaving us hanging here.

Sounds like a nice evening. With my new kitchen, I should do something like that some day . . .

Jennie said...

I made Ina Garten's version a couple of weeks ago and it was soooooo good. She said it's better the second day, so I made it in the evening for the following night's dinner which worked out well. I served the beef bourguignon on top of grilled artisan bread rubbed with a little garlic.

Nadia said...

Oo! I'm all about the beef! I bought beef and bacon for dinner tonight -- that's it. Haha! I'm so going to make this one.

Jamie Welsh Watson said...

Mariss, thanks to Susan's post, I made your butternut squash soup with the bacon and YUM YUM YUM!! Jay and I love it. Thank you so much for your sweet comment yesterday. I love your notes. AND I love your drawings on recipe cards.

Anna said...

It's one of my favourite recipes ever, the one I nearly always ask for on my birthday! I loved the film, and saw it with someone who taught at Julia's school in Paris. She agreed with your analysis of the film's portrayal of Julia. My best tip for this dish is make it the day before, it tastes even better after steeping for a day.

kat @ Taylor Made designs said...

We've made this once and it was yummy! You definitely need that Le Creuset 5 quart French Oven... makes the whole thing easier to create.

adorable drawing :) would have loved to see you both wearing your aprons!

Wendy said...

I can't even tell you how much I wanted the Le Cruset 5 quart - but after much dickering back and forth with my mother, I ended up getting a Chantal pot at Marshall's - only $50.00!!! If you google Chantal, unlike Martha Stewart or some other cast iron cookware, Chantal is actually on par with Le Cruset, just not as well known. And, over the weekend I used it - and have to say, having used Le Cruset before in other people's homes, I couldn't tell the difference.

Shona~ LALA dex press said...

I diverted my eyes, but I'm sure it was a lovely post.

sulu-design said...

I have to admit, I read this with rapt attention as if it was written just for me, so I was extra pleased to see that little note at the end. Girl, I am ALL OVER this recipe. Carve out a couple hours for me and it's done. Seriously. And yes, you must get the french oven. And yes, Julie was too whiny in the movie. And, oh, I'm just so excited that you made this!!!

Jessica Nichols said...

So many layers of fabulous in this post. Such fun to cook something complicated with a friend too. And I agree about the aprons!