I am currently attempting... [Recipe] Boeuf Bourguignon.
Project for the night: Julia Child's recipe for boeuf bouguinon, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pages 315-316, 483, & 513).
Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew in Red Wine with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms)
Required Cookware
* a 9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole dish, 3 inches deep, usable on both stovetop and in the oven.
: : (Note that most modern-day Corningware can't be used for this purpose -- ever since they sold off the bakeware division, the new manufacturers have a different method of making them. The "french white" line is made of Stoneware, and can only be used in ovens and the microwave, not on the stovetop. Basically, you'll need to do much as I did and win an eBay auction for a sufficiently-sized casserole dish; the one I use here is a 4-quart.)
* a slotted spoon
* a 10-inch enameled/nonstick skillet
* the usual measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
* a 6-oz. chunk of bacon (I ended up simply cutting eight or so slices of breakfast bacon across the grain and using that instead)
* 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
* 3 lbs. lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes (I used Select NY Sirloin)
* 1 sliced carrot (lacking a large carrot, I simply sliced up a dozen or so baby carrots in its place)
* 1 sliced onion
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 3 cups of a full-bodied young red wine -- Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux-St. Emilion, Burgundy, or Chianti
* 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 2 cloves mashed garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon thyme (I used ground rather than fresh herb)
* a crumbled bay leaf
Method
1. Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long. Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry. (As mentioned above, I made this simply using about eight slices of bacon, cut across the grain.)
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
3. In the casserole dish (note warning above about being able to use casserole dish on stovetop!), saute the bacon in the olive or cooking oil for 2 to 3 minutes to brown slightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you saute the beef (but make sure you dry to beef, as per the next step, first).
4. Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Saute it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.
5. In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sauteing fat. (When I attempted the recipe, by this time all the fat had boiled away and I had blackened beef/bacon drippings on the bottom of the casserole dish.)
6. Return the beef and bacon to the casserole dish and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in the middle position of pre-heated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
(In theory this works. In practice, my attempt didn't look like it crusted the beef much. I'll have to see what results I get next time.)
7. Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, mashed garlic, herbs, and bacon rind (that is, if you had some instead of taking the easier route *grin* ). Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
(Not sure what she means here about "regulate the heat". I put it in at 325, glancing at it occasionally, but it seemed to keep a nice even simmer without any interference from me.)
8. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.
9. 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 bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.
10. Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 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 of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.
(*) Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.
11. For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve it its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.
For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.
Oignons Glaces a Brun (Brown-Braised Onions)
Ingredients
* 18 to 24 peeled white onions about 1 inch in diameter
* 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
* 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
* 1/2 cup brown beef stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, red wine, or water (per your taste)
* salt and pepper to taste
* a medium herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme tied up in cheesecloth
Method
1. When the butter and oil are bubbling in the skillet, add the onions and saute over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling the onions about so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.
2. Then either:
. Braise them as follows:
Pour in the liquid, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet.
. Or bake them as follows:
Transfer the onions and their sauteeing fat to a shallow baking dish or casserole just large enough to hold them in one layer. Set uncovered in upper third of a preheated 350-degree-F oven for 40 to 50 minutes, turning them over once or twice. They should be very tender, retain their shape, and be a nice golden brown. Remove herb bouquet.
Champignon Sautes au Beurre (Sauteed Mushrooms)
Ingredients
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 lb. fresh mushrooms, washed, well-dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
* 2 to 4 tablespoons minced shallots or green onions
* salt and pepper to taste
Method
Successfully sauteed mushrooms are lightly browned and exude none of their juice while they are being cooked; to achieve this the mushrooms must be dry, the butter very hot, and the mushrooms must not be crowded in the pan. If you saute too many at once they steam rather than fry; their juices
escape and they do not brown. So if you are preparing a large amount (as is the case in this recipe), or if your heat source is feeble, saute the mushrooms in several batches (and divide the butter and oil accordingly, I think).
1. Place a 10-inch skillet over high heat with the butter and oil. As soon as you see that the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their saute the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes the fat will reappear on their surfaces, and the mushrooms will begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.
2. Toss the shallots or green onions with the mushrooms. Saute over moderate heat for 2 minutes. (Sauteed mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.)
And for the actual cooking experience...
6:11 pm. First reaction: wow, that's a lot of beef. Three pounds. Fortunately the local market was having a sale on NY sirloin. : )
~7:00. OK, all the beef is now browned in the bacon drippings, although by the time I finished sauteing there were substantial beef/bacon drippings cooked dry onto the bottom of the casserole dish and the fat and olive oil were all evaporated away.
7:10. Thank goodness I won my 4-quart Corningware casserole dish on eBay; nothing else I have would have comfortably fit the beef, onion, and carrot. Now into the oven, dusted with flour, for a brief span at 450 F.
7:20. 3 cups of red wine, and 2 cups of beef stock, plus herbs. Now into the oven for 2.5 hours at 325 F, covered.
8:20. OK, time to start on the other portions. First the white pearl onions. Peeling them is a huge pain in the neck. Very simple recipe to put together, though -- herb bouquet in cheesecloth, a little beef stock, and the onions browned in butter and olive oil. Then simmer for 45 minutes.
9:05. I suspect I didn't simmer at a high enough temp, as there's still liquid in the pan. Nonetheless, the tiny onions are incredibly tender. Chalk that up as a partial win.
9:35-ish. Mushrooms are all browned, though I know I cooked them wrong in the butter and olive oil. The heat wasn't high enough, or the batch was too big for all in one pan; they ended up steamed (releasing all their juices) rather than sauteed. Something to keep in mind next time. Also, water is heating on the stove for buttered noodles to serve as a base.
9:40. Water is boiling, time to start cooking the noodles. Yaaaay, something I know I can do with reasonable proficiency. *grin*
10:00. Noodles are done, boeuf is coming out of the oven. At some point I need to get a sieve or something; trying to pour the liquid in the casserole dish through a small wire skimmer is just awkward. I managed it, with only minor spillage. Yaaaaay.
10:01. Damn, liquid appears far too thin and without fat boiled to the surface. Julia says... boil rapidly to reduce, until sauce is mildly thick and lightly coats a spoon. Heat's up, liquid is coming to a boil...
10:05. ... I'm skimming little bits of fat off the top, but although it's slightly reducing it doesn't really seem to be getting that much thicker. The spoon stubbornly remains more or less non-coated. Sticking with the recipe, though.
10:12. Deciding to just glomp it all together and deal with slightly more liquid sauce. Add mushrooms and pearl onions back to casserole dish, pour the sauce over the top, simmer the combination for another 2 or 3 minutes. Then serving over the buttered noodles.
10:30. Mmmmmm. Huh. Well... it's pretty good. The meat is quite tender, the onions are great, the mushrooms aren't bad at all. The sauce definitely needs to be thicker, though. The question is: was this four-and-a-half hours of near-continual-cooking-effort-good?
Initial survey? Maybe not so much, for a fairly tasty recipe which is basically a glorified beef stew.
10:50. Dinner's done, dishes are all in the sink. I'll do them... tomorrow. Oy.
Crossposted from Kitchenklutz.
Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew in Red Wine with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms)
Required Cookware
* a 9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole dish, 3 inches deep, usable on both stovetop and in the oven.
: : (Note that most modern-day Corningware can't be used for this purpose -- ever since they sold off the bakeware division, the new manufacturers have a different method of making them. The "french white" line is made of Stoneware, and can only be used in ovens and the microwave, not on the stovetop. Basically, you'll need to do much as I did and win an eBay auction for a sufficiently-sized casserole dish; the one I use here is a 4-quart.)
* a slotted spoon
* a 10-inch enameled/nonstick skillet
* the usual measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
* a 6-oz. chunk of bacon (I ended up simply cutting eight or so slices of breakfast bacon across the grain and using that instead)
* 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
* 3 lbs. lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes (I used Select NY Sirloin)
* 1 sliced carrot (lacking a large carrot, I simply sliced up a dozen or so baby carrots in its place)
* 1 sliced onion
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 3 cups of a full-bodied young red wine -- Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux-St. Emilion, Burgundy, or Chianti
* 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 2 cloves mashed garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon thyme (I used ground rather than fresh herb)
* a crumbled bay leaf
Method
1. Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long. Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry. (As mentioned above, I made this simply using about eight slices of bacon, cut across the grain.)
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
3. In the casserole dish (note warning above about being able to use casserole dish on stovetop!), saute the bacon in the olive or cooking oil for 2 to 3 minutes to brown slightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you saute the beef (but make sure you dry to beef, as per the next step, first).
4. Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Saute it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.
5. In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sauteing fat. (When I attempted the recipe, by this time all the fat had boiled away and I had blackened beef/bacon drippings on the bottom of the casserole dish.)
6. Return the beef and bacon to the casserole dish and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in the middle position of pre-heated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
(In theory this works. In practice, my attempt didn't look like it crusted the beef much. I'll have to see what results I get next time.)
7. Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, mashed garlic, herbs, and bacon rind (that is, if you had some instead of taking the easier route *grin* ). Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
(Not sure what she means here about "regulate the heat". I put it in at 325, glancing at it occasionally, but it seemed to keep a nice even simmer without any interference from me.)
8. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.
9. 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 bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.
10. Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 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 of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.
(*) Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.
11. For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve it its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.
For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.
Oignons Glaces a Brun (Brown-Braised Onions)
Ingredients
* 18 to 24 peeled white onions about 1 inch in diameter
* 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
* 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
* 1/2 cup brown beef stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, red wine, or water (per your taste)
* salt and pepper to taste
* a medium herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme tied up in cheesecloth
Method
1. When the butter and oil are bubbling in the skillet, add the onions and saute over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling the onions about so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.
2. Then either:
. Braise them as follows:
Pour in the liquid, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet.
. Or bake them as follows:
Transfer the onions and their sauteeing fat to a shallow baking dish or casserole just large enough to hold them in one layer. Set uncovered in upper third of a preheated 350-degree-F oven for 40 to 50 minutes, turning them over once or twice. They should be very tender, retain their shape, and be a nice golden brown. Remove herb bouquet.
Champignon Sautes au Beurre (Sauteed Mushrooms)
Ingredients
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 lb. fresh mushrooms, washed, well-dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
* 2 to 4 tablespoons minced shallots or green onions
* salt and pepper to taste
Method
Successfully sauteed mushrooms are lightly browned and exude none of their juice while they are being cooked; to achieve this the mushrooms must be dry, the butter very hot, and the mushrooms must not be crowded in the pan. If you saute too many at once they steam rather than fry; their juices
escape and they do not brown. So if you are preparing a large amount (as is the case in this recipe), or if your heat source is feeble, saute the mushrooms in several batches (and divide the butter and oil accordingly, I think).
1. Place a 10-inch skillet over high heat with the butter and oil. As soon as you see that the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their saute the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes the fat will reappear on their surfaces, and the mushrooms will begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.
2. Toss the shallots or green onions with the mushrooms. Saute over moderate heat for 2 minutes. (Sauteed mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.)
And for the actual cooking experience...
6:11 pm. First reaction: wow, that's a lot of beef. Three pounds. Fortunately the local market was having a sale on NY sirloin. : )
~7:00. OK, all the beef is now browned in the bacon drippings, although by the time I finished sauteing there were substantial beef/bacon drippings cooked dry onto the bottom of the casserole dish and the fat and olive oil were all evaporated away.
7:10. Thank goodness I won my 4-quart Corningware casserole dish on eBay; nothing else I have would have comfortably fit the beef, onion, and carrot. Now into the oven, dusted with flour, for a brief span at 450 F.
7:20. 3 cups of red wine, and 2 cups of beef stock, plus herbs. Now into the oven for 2.5 hours at 325 F, covered.
8:20. OK, time to start on the other portions. First the white pearl onions. Peeling them is a huge pain in the neck. Very simple recipe to put together, though -- herb bouquet in cheesecloth, a little beef stock, and the onions browned in butter and olive oil. Then simmer for 45 minutes.
9:05. I suspect I didn't simmer at a high enough temp, as there's still liquid in the pan. Nonetheless, the tiny onions are incredibly tender. Chalk that up as a partial win.
9:35-ish. Mushrooms are all browned, though I know I cooked them wrong in the butter and olive oil. The heat wasn't high enough, or the batch was too big for all in one pan; they ended up steamed (releasing all their juices) rather than sauteed. Something to keep in mind next time. Also, water is heating on the stove for buttered noodles to serve as a base.
9:40. Water is boiling, time to start cooking the noodles. Yaaaay, something I know I can do with reasonable proficiency. *grin*
10:00. Noodles are done, boeuf is coming out of the oven. At some point I need to get a sieve or something; trying to pour the liquid in the casserole dish through a small wire skimmer is just awkward. I managed it, with only minor spillage. Yaaaaay.
10:01. Damn, liquid appears far too thin and without fat boiled to the surface. Julia says... boil rapidly to reduce, until sauce is mildly thick and lightly coats a spoon. Heat's up, liquid is coming to a boil...
10:05. ... I'm skimming little bits of fat off the top, but although it's slightly reducing it doesn't really seem to be getting that much thicker. The spoon stubbornly remains more or less non-coated. Sticking with the recipe, though.
10:12. Deciding to just glomp it all together and deal with slightly more liquid sauce. Add mushrooms and pearl onions back to casserole dish, pour the sauce over the top, simmer the combination for another 2 or 3 minutes. Then serving over the buttered noodles.
10:30. Mmmmmm. Huh. Well... it's pretty good. The meat is quite tender, the onions are great, the mushrooms aren't bad at all. The sauce definitely needs to be thicker, though. The question is: was this four-and-a-half hours of near-continual-cooking-effort-good?
Initial survey? Maybe not so much, for a fairly tasty recipe which is basically a glorified beef stew.
10:50. Dinner's done, dishes are all in the sink. I'll do them... tomorrow. Oy.
Crossposted from Kitchenklutz.