Upon realizing today was the legendary Julia Child’s 100th birthday (what a fun coincidence it is also the first day of my blog), I decided to pay tribute to her with a post including the following :
1. The original episode featuring “Boeuf Bourguignon”
2. The awesome remix PBS created in her honor
3. The written recipe for Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon ABC recently featured
Beef Bourguignon is a quintessential french dish easily made celiac and allergy friendly by subbing in 2 tablespoons of rice flour or a gluten free all purpose blend for regular flour and serving it alongside potatoes or rice instead of noodles. It is full of fresh and natural ingredients including; beef, vegetables, fresh herbs and spices and of course, wine. It is a luxury to be able to prepare as it takes a ton of time in the kitchen however, it is well worth it in the end! If you ever have the time, try out this recipe. It truly covers so many basic culinary techniques and is delicious.
Seriously, how can anyone not love this woman? Happy Birthday Julia Child! I’m sure I will be learning a lot of the techniques you have developed and used once I start culinary school!
- One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon
- 3½ tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons rice flour or gluten free all purpose blend
- 3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
- 2½ to 3½ cups brown beef stock
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cloves mashed garlic
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- A crumbled bay leaf
- 18 to 24 white onions, small
- 3½ tablespoons butter
- Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
- 1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered
- Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks ¼-inch thick and 1½ inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1½ quarts water. Drain and dry.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
- Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.
- In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
- Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
- Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).
- Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
- Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
- Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
- Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
- While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
- Heat 1½ tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
- Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.
- Add ½ cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.
- Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
- Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.
- Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.
- When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.
- Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
- Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2½ cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
- If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.
- Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.
- Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes or rice, and decorated with parsley.
Photo courtesy of http://www.notimetocook.com/photo/boeufbourguignon-1
I’m so glad that the paleo diet is starting to become more mainstream and indeed accepted.
Personally, I think the Paleo diet is great. I am seeing and feeling the benefits of the diet for a long time now. Not only have I lost weight, but I feel much more energized, and much better in myself. I think the reason is that whilst the paleo diet may be a diet, I do actually eat much much varied food than I did previously. All I’ve done is taken out the stodge that my body finds hard to digest, and added more types of fruit, veg, and indeed meat.
I’ve now actually taken an interest in cooking paleo meals, which I can guarantee is 100% better than throwing some ready meals in the oven like I used to.