I’ve never made Julia Child’s beef bourguignon and I’ve always wanted to make Julia Child’s beef bourguignon.

I’ve never made Julia Child’s beef bourguignon and I’ve always wanted to make Julia Child’s beef bourguignon. And now I think I will never make Julia Child’s beef bourguignon.

It was a perfect day for a long slow cooking venture. Day off from work. Cold and show outside. Nagging to-do list is more or less completed. All the ingredients are on hand. But some of the directions in the recipe were dragging me down. And some of the ingredients — like pearl onions.

And then Ruth Reichl’s newsletter dropped in. It contained a couple of suggestions to see us through the stormy weather. Beef, Wine, Onion stew was one of them.

The description — it was not a recipe — was a definite variation on the famous beef bourguignon but so liberating. No timing, no quantities — just a splash, a squirt, a pat, and as many as you feel like. And whatever. And no pearl onions.

I jotted down the plan on a sticky note and put a movie on my iPad.

Here’s what was on my note:

STEP 1 — TO BROWN
— pat of butter
— lots of onions (I had 5 large ones)
— good bacon, lardons (there was a 7 oz chunk)
— carrots (I had 3)
— lots of garlic (I used 10 cloves)
— thyme (huge 5-finger pinch of dried)
— squirt of tomato paste at the end

STEP 2 — TO BROWN
— oil & butter
— beef: salt, pepper, flour (I had 3,5 lb chuck, 2”-cubed)
— deglaze with brandy

STEP 3 — 300°F, 3 HOURS
— good red wine (whole bottle)
— celery stalk
— bay leaf

STEP 4
— brown mushrooms in butter, mix in at the end (2,5 lb, quartered)
— boil potatoes to serve
— parsley to garnish

Amazing, amazing, amazing result!

For the movie — HBO put Mad Men back on. I’ve never seen it but read about it and wanted to give it a shot. Honestly, it watches like horror series.

#food #cooking #beefstew #beefbourguignon #inmykitchen #stormyweatherdinner #myhappyplace