Boeuf Bourguignon

In honor of my mother's birthday which was last Monday, September 14th, I decided to make her Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon for dinner. We had all seen "Julie and Julia" a few weeks ago and so it seemed like a fun idea. I have also loved Julia Child since I was a child. While other kids were watching cartoons and "Saved by the Bell," I was watching Julia Child's "The French Chef," "Cooking with Master Chefs," and "Julia Child and Jacques Pepin Cooking at Home" on public television, along with Jeff Smith's "Frugal Gourmet," Martin Yan's "Yan Can Cook" and Mary Ann Espoisito's "Ciao Italia." (which is still on!) I still love to spend Saturday mornings watching cooking shows on public television, but I digress.

When I told them about my dinner plan, several friends and coworkers pointed out that there were less complicated and time consuming recipes for boeuf bourguignon than Julia Child's (e.g., Ina Garten's recipe from "Barefoot in Paris," and this recipe, adapted from Ginette Mathiot's "Je Sais Cuisiner" which was recently published in the New York Times). But I was determined to give Julia's recipe a go since she was, after all, the inspiration for this dinner party.

I had reviewed the recipe (actually, recipes, plural since the mushroom and onions get their own recipes) from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" several times and knew this version of boeuf bourguignon would take several hours. So on Thursday morning at 6am, I headed to Fairway to shop so that I could start cooking right after I got home from work (and dress shopping at Vera Wang with Ciara!).

Step one: cook lardons (fat slivers of bacon) in a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Step two: remove lardons and set aside. Brown 3lbs of "tender stew beef" inthe bacon fat, in batches.

Step three: Once beef is browed, set it aside with the lardons. Add one sliced carrot and one sliced onion to the remaining beef and bacon fat, stirring to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.

Step 4: Once the vegetables have browned, return the beef and lardons to the pot. Add two tablespoons of flour, toss to coat the meat and vegetables, and put pot in a hot oven for 7 minutes. Toss meat and vegetables again and return to oven for seven more minutes. (I was very skeptical about this step.) Set pot back on stove over medium heat. Add one bottle of red wine (I used Chianti), tomato paste, crushed garlic cloves, several sprigs of fresh thyme, two bay leaves, and beef broth. Once liquid comes to a boil, cover and put pot back in the oven for 2.5 - 3 hours. It was after 9:30 by the time I got to the step of putting the pot in the oven. I was going to be up late.

Step 5: While stew is in the oven, brown 24 small white onions in a mixture of butter and olive oil. (Note - it takes a LONG TIME to peel 24 little onions.) Add fresh thyme and beef broth, cover the pan, and braise the onions over low heat for 40 - 50 minutes. Set aside.

Step 6: Also, while the stew is in the oven, saute 8oz of quartered mushrooms in a mixture of olive oil and butter. Set aside when mushrooms have just begun to brown (5-7 minutes later). I used cremini mushrooms.

Step 7: Once meat in the stew is tender enough to break apart with a fork, remove pot from oven. Strain contents over a bowl.

Step 8: Wash out pot, and return only the beef and bacon pieces. Add cooked mushrooms and braised onions. It was after 1am when I did this. I covered the pot and put it in front of an open window to let cool overnight. I placed the bowl with the cooking liquid in the refrigerator so I could take the fat off more easily in the morning. Our apartment smelled delicious as I fell asleep.

Step 9: At 5:45 am on Friday morning, I added the de-fatted cooking liquid to the pot with beef, mushrooms, and onions and put it in the refrigerator. And reluctantly headed to work.

Step 10: When I got home from work, I reheated the beef stew; Step 11: made polenta with sheeps' milk cheese from Patricia Wells' "Paris" cookbook; Step 13: blanched brussels sprouts and sauteed them in a little butter. A surprise birthday bottle of champagne from Kate arrived in the process - thank you! And then it was time for dinner - FINALLY!

I am exhausted just thinking about this laborious recipe again. I made a big mess on the stove, dirtied and subsequently hand-washed a large portion of the pots and pans that we own, and probably gained several pounds from our very rich meal. But it was worth it for my mom's reaction:

Happy birthday, Mom!