Moving along
With any luck my book will be on shelves by mid-summer or Fall. It's still beef stew weather around here, so my recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon.
3lb beef chuck, in 2x2x1" cubes
8-12oz slab bacon, cut into 1/2sqx1' lardoons
long 1/2 tsp thyme
olive oil
1/2 tsp sage
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
Large bay leaf
4 large cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2-1lb "mature" carrot, sliced into 1/2" coins
3/4lb onion, sliced into 1/4" rings
1lb baby bella mushrooms, sliced into thirds, or halves if small
1lb cippolini onions or white boiling onions
1 1/2 tbs soy sauce
2tbs beef stock concentrate (optional)
4-6 cups red wine (any cheap but drinkable quality burgund(hard to find), a full-bodied pinot noir, beaujolais, cabernet, shiraz or zinfandel)
1 tbs sugar, salt (if needed), long 1/4 tsp black pepper
rue of 1 1/2 tbs butter, 3 tbs flour (see below)
In a dutch oven, preferably, add a bit of olive oil and brown the lardoons lightly, and remove. Brown the meat in this fat, flipping several times if necessary to prevent excess sweating on top. Pour off remaining fat and save. Saute carrots and onion slices until edges start to brown. Set these vegetable aside. Heat pan, add lardoons, fat and mushrooms, sauteing till mushrooms brown and loose excess water. Brown the cippolinis in a pan with olive oil, they will not brown evenly of course. Add wine to cover the pan and simmer covered for about 30min, or until tender but still firm enough to retain their shape. Return meat to DO and add any remaining fat, lardoons, tomatoes, carrots and sliced onions (but not the cippolinis or mushrooms), all seasoning except salt (unless you have foregone the beef stock concentrate, but don't overdo as the liquid gets reduced), and wine to barely cover. Place covered DO in 325F oven for 3 hours.
Remove and let cool so meat reabsorbs some liquid. Skim off fat, add cippolinis and the wine they simmered in, and the mushroom and lardoons. For the rue melt 1/1/2 tbs butter in pan at medium heat, allowing most of the water to evaporate, add flour and very lightly brown, constantly moving the mixture about, let cool. Add some wine to this to make a thin paste. Reheat the bourguignon on stove top, adding more wine if there has been a lot of evaporation. Check the seasoning, salt and sugar in particular,. Add 1/2 of the rue and let simmer a few minutes, add more rue as needed to get the consistency you desire, but the sauce should remain liquidy. Serve over egg noodles, and it is wonderful!
3lb beef chuck, in 2x2x1" cubes
8-12oz slab bacon, cut into 1/2sqx1' lardoons
long 1/2 tsp thyme
olive oil
1/2 tsp sage
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
Large bay leaf
4 large cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2-1lb "mature" carrot, sliced into 1/2" coins
3/4lb onion, sliced into 1/4" rings
1lb baby bella mushrooms, sliced into thirds, or halves if small
1lb cippolini onions or white boiling onions
1 1/2 tbs soy sauce
2tbs beef stock concentrate (optional)
4-6 cups red wine (any cheap but drinkable quality burgund(hard to find), a full-bodied pinot noir, beaujolais, cabernet, shiraz or zinfandel)
1 tbs sugar, salt (if needed), long 1/4 tsp black pepper
rue of 1 1/2 tbs butter, 3 tbs flour (see below)
In a dutch oven, preferably, add a bit of olive oil and brown the lardoons lightly, and remove. Brown the meat in this fat, flipping several times if necessary to prevent excess sweating on top. Pour off remaining fat and save. Saute carrots and onion slices until edges start to brown. Set these vegetable aside. Heat pan, add lardoons, fat and mushrooms, sauteing till mushrooms brown and loose excess water. Brown the cippolinis in a pan with olive oil, they will not brown evenly of course. Add wine to cover the pan and simmer covered for about 30min, or until tender but still firm enough to retain their shape. Return meat to DO and add any remaining fat, lardoons, tomatoes, carrots and sliced onions (but not the cippolinis or mushrooms), all seasoning except salt (unless you have foregone the beef stock concentrate, but don't overdo as the liquid gets reduced), and wine to barely cover. Place covered DO in 325F oven for 3 hours.
Remove and let cool so meat reabsorbs some liquid. Skim off fat, add cippolinis and the wine they simmered in, and the mushroom and lardoons. For the rue melt 1/1/2 tbs butter in pan at medium heat, allowing most of the water to evaporate, add flour and very lightly brown, constantly moving the mixture about, let cool. Add some wine to this to make a thin paste. Reheat the bourguignon on stove top, adding more wine if there has been a lot of evaporation. Check the seasoning, salt and sugar in particular,. Add 1/2 of the rue and let simmer a few minutes, add more rue as needed to get the consistency you desire, but the sauce should remain liquidy. Serve over egg noodles, and it is wonderful!