Boeuf Bourguignon home cooked

Have you made real beef stew, I mean the way Julia Childs prepared it?  

No, well on a cold rainy day back in 2009 I prepared “Boeuf Bourguignon with Boeuf A La Bourguignonne” Yes Julia Child’s “Beef Stew in Red Wine, with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms.”  

If you have not prepared this recipe or had the opportunity to indulge yourself in a mouth watering bowl of this delectable stew you must try it! Or get someone like me to prepare it for you; it is truly a labor of love which you can taste in every bite. 

Of course you need to set aside several hours to prepare this and at least an hour to slowly savor the finished product pared with a nice bottle of your favorite red wine and a freshly baked baguette. No wheat bread with this stew, yes I know white bread always gets a bad rap, but why are the French so healthy and they consume freshly baked bread with white flour, my guess is moderation or more importantly organic wheat with no chemicals or additives, like we have in the states. 

I booted up the DVD player, queued up Julie and Julia on DVD and began my preparations.

The first time I prepared Julia’s recipe I made one exception, I purchased thickly sliced bacon and cut the slices into 1 inch squares. Julia’s recipe calls for a 6 ounce chunk of bacon, removing the rind and simmering the bacon with the rind in water for 10 minutes, adding the rind and cooked bacon to the pot when cooking the stew.

The second time I prepared the recipe I did not simmer the bacon in water, I again used thickly sliced bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces but fried the bacon in my cast iron baking pot over a very low heat, to remove as much fat as possible. The French use pancetta, which is bacon that has not been smoked. 

As for the cut of beef it has been my experience that pre-cut stew meat works really well, already cut into cubes and when slow cooked it will be tender and delicious. You can find Julia Child’s recipe in her cook book of course or at julia-childs-boeuf-bourguignon-recipe, there are some great suggestions for preparing this recipe on the site as well.  

While watching Julie and Julia’s cooking journey on the telly I chopped, diced, boiled and cooked my way through the movie. 

The result was just plain yummy! 

Over the years I have made many different versions of Julia’s julia-childs-boeuf-bourguignon-recipe.  When using my crock pot I coat the beef in flour, brown the beef, then add to the crock pot along with the red wine, beef stock and carrots. Sometimes I boil potatoes and add them along with the mushrooms and pearl onions once the stew is cooked. 

What’s your favorite Beef Stew recipe? 

Just cook something! Cheers~ Kary