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Boeuf Bourguignon

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Boeuf BourguignonMark Thomas

On the first show of her series "The French Chef," Julia Child taught viewers to make this staple of French bourgeois cuisine. Roasted garlic, baby vegetables and wild mushrooms bring the dish right up to date.

Ingredients

Makes 6 servings

1 whole head garlic
2 tablespoons plus 2 cups dry red wine
4 thick bacon slices, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
3 1/2 pounds boneless beef cross-rib roast, trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 large fresh thyme sprigs
3 large fresh sage sprigs
3 large fresh rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
3 cups (or more) canned beef broth
12 ounces pearl onions
3 bunches baby carrots, trimmed, peeled
12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, quartered

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°F. Place garlic on large piece of foil. Pour 2 tablespoons wine over garlic. Wrap foil around garlic to enclose. Roast garlic until soft, about 40 minutes. Cool. Press garlic between fingertips to release from skins; set aside.

    Step 2

    Cook bacon in large pot over medium heat until brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Pour drippings into small bowl. Return 2 tablespoons to same pot; reserve remainder. Increase heat to high. Working in batches, add beef to pot and brown, about 7 minutes per batch. Using slotted spoon, transfer meat to large bowl.

    Step 3

    Reduce heat to medium-low. Add chopped onion and chopped carrot to pot; sauté 5 minutes. Mix in flour. Return beef and accumulated juices to pot. Stir in tomato paste. Add herb sprigs, bay leaves, roasted garlic and 2 cups wine; simmer 15 minutes. Add 3 cups broth. Cover; simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Uncover; simmer until meat is tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours longer. Discard herb sprigs and bay leaves.

    Step 4

    Cook pearl onions in large saucepan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Using 4- to 5-inch-diameter strainer, transfer onions to medium bowl; cool slightly, then peel. Return water to boil. Add carrots and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Transfer to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain. (Bacon, stew and vegetables can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)

    Step 5

    Heat 2 tablespoons reserved bacon drippings in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add pearl onions to mushrooms; sauté until onions are golden, about 4 minutes. Add carrots; cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring stew to simmer, thinning with more broth, if desired. Stir bacon and 2/3 of vegetables into stew. Transfer to large bowl. Top stew with remaining vegetables.

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  • Love This recipe,best of al! Have 11 ppl.coming to our mnt. hqome for a skiing weekend and this is what I look forward to preparing again. Will cook the beef a couple days ahead and leave n the wine marinade,then a zip to complete and thnk I can smell it now.........

    • WyomingalCheyenne

    • Cheyenne,wy

    • 1/14/2014

  • I love this recipe. It takes me about 4 hours to do it properly, including cooking time, but the rosemary is just so amazing that I make a HUGE batch once a year and I'm good for a while. This is an amazing dish.

    • ulothrix

    • San Mateo, CA

    • 1/2/2014

  • This was great. Made a few modifications based on ingredients I had. I omitted the pearl onions, and substituted a can of diced tomatoes and an extra two tablespoons of flour in place of the tomato paste. I also added a few dashes of fish sauce and some threads of saffron to give it some depth. I added the bacon and shiitake with about 20 minutes left on the clock so the flavors blended with the stew. Served it over mashed potatoes.

    • kitchelm1215

    • 11/3/2013

  • Delightful! Followed ingredient list exactly but did change method slightly by adapting what I've learned from watching America's Test Kitchen. After sauteeing the chopped onion & carrot, added the flour, cooked & browned the flour for a couple of minutes before adding the tomato paste and the 2 cups wine. Deglazed the pan with the wine, stirring up browned bits and cooking down wine until mixture was syrupy and thick. Then added beef broth & the browned beef cubes with juices, bringing mixture with herbs to a simmer, covered and continued with recipe. This developed a deep rich flavor. Excellent!

    • Lindacooks

    • 4/5/2013

  • I followed the recipe exactly with a few minor changes: I didn't use pearl onions, mainly because no one in my family likes them. Also, I added the last cup of beef stock in the quart box at the 1.5 hour mark, and I added 2C of water at the 2.5 hour mark, both times because it was just getting too dry. But the water also toned down the salt, so in the end, it was perfect. Everyone loved it and had two servings, even my mom who doesn't like "beef stew". I served it with the buttered polenta recipe also on Epicurous.

    • ulothrix

    • San Mateo, CA

    • 10/1/2012

  • Good recipe. I took some tips from reviews, particularly about salt and pearl onions. To Christopher in Chicago here is the site for Julia's recipe: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=8222804

    • Anonymous

    • boise

    • 1/3/2010

  • This is an excellent recipe and fun to make. The many flavors in this dish blend together well to make a meal you are sure to enjoy. I did the following things differently: -sautéed about 1/4th lb of pancetta with the beef an let it cook as the beef cooked and then used only one strip of bacon; -served it over polenta (very good compliment; -used inexpensive wine; -sautéed the carrots and mushrooms in butter instead of bacon fat. All of the above worked well with this dish.

    • Anonymous

    • Tampa, FL

    • 1/1/2010

  • This was absolutely delicious. This was the first boeuf bourguignon I have ever made. I'll admit that I made a few very minor changes and it did require a bit of work, but it was worth it. I will make this again very soon.

    • Anonymous

    • NJ

    • 12/18/2009

  • I made this over two nights. I used dried sliced shiitake instead of fresh and added them in with the broth. Dried shiitake make their own stock, which I think made this dish a lot richer. I'm not wholly convinced of the pearl onions. They added more texture than flavor, even freshly sauteed. For a stronger flavor, I might use red pearl onions in the future. Also, watch the salt content of the broth; as this dish reduces, it becomes much saltier. Otherwise, this was a great version of this recipe. The broth is rich and thick. It served 6 people with leftovers.

    • darksprite

    • Los Angeles, CA

    • 9/18/2009

  • I served this on some creamy polenta and loved it. Thankfully, I made it when my husband was out of town so that I could enjoy as much beef as possible!

    • Anonymous

    • Seattle, WA

    • 9/17/2009

  • I have been making this stew since January '05. Excellent stew. I now make it in a slow cooker to save time & heat in the kitchen, as I live in the Virgin Islands. Tie the thyme & sage together & chop the rosemary (2 tsp.)

    • terry13

    • St.Thomas, USVI

    • 9/14/2009

  • I saw the movie also, so followed the recipe. I was really disappointed -- it was not that tasty. It was okay. For the effort, frankly it was not worth it. Richard

    • rhayes73

    • 9/4/2009

  • This was a predictable beef stew. Not special, but not a lot work. I'll try a different receipe next time.

    • Anonymous

    • ja, Moraga, CA

    • 1/23/2009

  • easy to make.. and fabulous to eat... making ahead certainly lets flavours develop.

    • Anonymous

    • Burlington, ON

    • 2/16/2008

  • Fabulous, I added a little extra wine and lots of black pepper. My boyfriend and I are loving the leftovers. It makes enough to feed 5-7 people! So French!

    • kathlove00

    • NYC

    • 1/14/2008

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