Boeuf Bourguignon. Two words that may sound strange and unpronounceable to some, but to any foodie, it is a right of passage. If you’re a lover of Julia Child or have read Julie Powell’s homage to her, Julie & Julia, then you know the weight and importance this dish holds. To me, it was in fact a right of passage I have been wanting to experience for some time now. And now, i’m going to share my experience with you, step by step, and show you that with love, commitment, patience, and a no fear, you can master this French classic too.
For anyone I may have lost there, let me put it in simpler terms. Boeuf Bourguignon (pronounced Bo-of Bour-ig-yon) is really just a beef stew cooked in red wine. I know that makes all this work sound like it’s for nothing special, but trust me, it is. A classic French recipe, Julia brought it to the kitchen of home cook’s across America when she published Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and it is still a classic today.
As a preface, I am going to narrate this recipe and include notes on preparation, but it would be almost impossible (and frankly too long) to post the entire recipe. If you are inspired after reading this to give it a try, please pick up a copy of the book or hit Google and try to find a PDF copy. MTAFC isn’t 684 pages because of the pictures. Julia did a tremendous job in narrating every step of each recipe so that it was almost impossible to screw it up. To appreciate this and all the other resources needed to prepare this dish, my cut and paste simply wouldn’t do.
Boeuf Bourguignon
Beef Stew in Red Wine, with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms
Courtesy Julia Child
The most important component to this dish, other than the ingredients, is a cast iron, enameled dutch oven or casserole. I’m sure you could attempt it in a crockpot or some other pot, but it’s not traditional, and for a recipe this important, I wouldn’t recommend straying from Julia’s advice. If you don’t already own one, I would wait until you can splurge on a Le Creuset or find a steal of a deal Martha Stewart version like I did for $60.
So my adventure started on Saturday afternoon when I made my list of the 12 ingredients I needed to prepare the dish and headed to Publix as a woman on a mission.
Step #1, ascertain the beef. Julia suggests a Rump Pot Roast as her first choice cut of meat, and thankfully for me, there happened to be one 3 and 1/2 pound roast with my name on it. The recipe calls for the meat to be into 2 inch cubes, so I asked the butcher to take it back and do the hard work for me.
Step #2, get the bacon. This was the one part I wasn’t quire sure about and went with my gut instead of following the recipe. Julia calls for a 6 ounce chunk of bacon that you later remove the rind from and simmer in water. For the life of me I couldn’t find a chunk of bacon fitting this description and the butcher kind of looked at me funny, so instead, I went for the thick center cut bacon I usually buy and hoped for the best. I mean, bacon is bacon to me and I assumed that the flavors could be duplicated using this shortcut.
Step #3, selecting the wine. The recipe calls for a full-bodied young red wine, such as a Burgundy or Cotes du Rhone. A Chianti would work too. Keeping in mind that I was shopping at Publix and not a wine shop, my selection was somewhat limited and I must have spent 20 minutes staring at all my choices painstakingly evaluating each one. Thankfully for me, Publix has these handy symbols on all their pricing labels that indicate if the wine is fruity, medium-bodied, full-bodied, etc. Out of my full-body options, a Robert Mondavi 2007 Pinot Noir looked like my best choice. At $10.99, this was the second most expensive ingredient next to the meat. Am I sure that another cheaper wine that i picked out quickly wouldn’t produce the same results? No, but again, with all the pressure for this dish to be perfect I didn’t want to chance it.
Step #4, the easy stuff. Onions, mushrooms, carrots, beef stock, garlic, thyme, potatoes and tomato paste rounded out my shopping cart.
Sunday morning arrived and I woke up with an excitement that I hadn’t felt in a while, like a true challenge was before me. After I completed every chore that could possibly distract me and cause me to ruin the dish it was onto the main event. At this point I think I had read the recipe at least 5 times so I could be sure I knew every step that was ahead of me so I could plan my schedule accordingly. There are so many times where I am preparing a dish and don’t read all the way ahead and find out there is some ingredient that I needed to prepare yesterday (come on, you know you do it too). Preparation is key.
Keeping with the theme of preparation, the very first thing I did once I got started was measure out all my ingredients so that each step went smoothly and I wasn’t forgetting anything. This is what Chef’s and the French call Mise en Place (or everything in it’s place). I strongly encourage that you heed my advice on this one.
I poured oil into my casserole started the heat and pre-heated my oven to 450 degrees, it was game time. No going back now.
I tossed in the bacon cut into lardons and heard them sizzle away. After slightly browning them it was time to take them out and add the Bouef. One of the most important steps that you must follow is to dry the meat with paper towels before placing in the casserole to ensure they brown. If they are too wet you won’t get the same effect. The meat is added and removed in batches so it doesn’t crown and browns evenly. This step shouldn’t take more than a minute or two, too long and you will start to overcook it. Once it’s ready add it to the bacon.
With all the bacon fat and juices from the meat sizzling in the pot, I tossed in my sliced onions and carrots to soften and build flavor. After about 10 minutes they had the look I was going for and it was time to bring the meat back into the party. Here is where you have to start paying attention. Flour is added to the pot to coat the meat and you place the pot (without the lid) in the oven for 4 minutes to create a crust. After 4 minutes you take it out and mix, then back in again for an additional 4 minutes.
After you remove it, turn down the heat to 325 degrees and add your liquids to the pot. Wine should go it first, and the stock follows to just barely cover the meat. Toss in the garlic, tomato paste, thyme and a bay leaf and cover and the battle is halfway over. I put the covered pot back into the oven, said a prayer, and hoped for the best.
Thankfully the mushrooms and pearl onions that accompany this stew required some preparation of their own to keep me occupied, otherwise I might have sat and stared at the oven for hours. The pearl onions require peeling (tedious) and sautéing in stock for 45 minutes, while the mushrooms were quickly sauteed in butter and oil.
The recipe calls for 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours of cooking time, but that seemed like a bit too long to me. First, some of my meat was cut into smaller than 2 inch cubes, and second I knew I had a hot oven. I set the timer to 2 hours and figured I would taste test it for tenderness. I can honestly say the waiting period before I tasted it was brutal. I was so nervous. Did I spend $50 and my entire Sunday preparing a pot of chewy meat??? Whether it was my attention to detail, luck, or both, my first taste sent me right to heaven. It was perfect!
The last step requires you to strain out the sauce and simmer down to thicken. After its ready you add it back to the meat and simmer for a few minutes then enjoy. I knew I had a bit of a wait until I was serving, so I let it cool to room temperature and brought it back to temperature when dinner was ready. Would I recommend doing this? I’m not sure. Julia says that the longer it sits and even refrigerating it overnight adds more flavor, but I felt it cooked the meat a little more than I would have wanted.
The finished product was a pot of delicious smelling beef stew that permeated the entire house. I served it was some simple mashed potatoes and can honestly say I was very pleased with the results. My guests seemed to enjoy it too (or they knew how hard I worked and made me feel better).
So now that I’ve experienced this right of passage, would I do it again? Maybe, if it was for a special occasion or special guests, but certainly not just because. It was certainly a time consuming process, and while not difficult, it was a lot of work. But you know what, it was fun! It was stressful and rewarding and I really do feel like a better home cook having prepared it.
If you are still reading, thank you, I know this was long. But there is something about learning from the experiences of others that I fine so helpful, so if I can pass that onto to at least one person I will feel better for it. If you feel challenged to make your own Boeuf Bourguignon, remember Julia’s famous words: “Don’t be afraid!”
Bon Appetit!
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Tara O'Keeffe