About 5 years before I went to Culinary school I bought a book at a garage sale, it was Julia Child's "Baking with Julia" and I decided to do every recipe in the book until I perfected them and then write in my blog about it. I know, it's like the exact script of "Julie and Julia", I think they stole the idea from me!!
I spent a long time on the first one because it was Flaky Pie Crust and I finally got to where I could make a really yummy pie crust but it was so time-consuming that I finally found one easier than the one she used and it's just as yummy. Then, the next recipe in the book was Choux Paste and it is just my favorite thing in the world to make honey child. Sorry, I don't know where that Southern accent came from.
That brings me to my favorite story from Culinary school, we made choux paste in Culinary school and it was horrible, very leaky and runny out of our pastry bag and they just looked horrible before they were baked and during the baking I saw some of them hovering around in the oven, convection ovens have a huge fan that keeps everything cooking at the same rate by basically blowing hot air around each food you are cooking and that's what lofted the choux paste in the air and swirling like "the wicked witch of the west like in the wizard of oz". Ok, so we made it several times in Culinary school and it never came out as good as I know it can be. I was super disappointed too. Watch this sad face :(
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| CHOUX PASTE also known as Profiteroles |
Then a few months later I went out to Calif. to visit some of my relatives and one of my favorite cousins made us tuna puffs. They are these really tasty bits of puffy joy with tuna salad inside. I asked her for the recipe and she emailed it to me. As soon as I started making it, something clicked in my bird-like brain and I realized this is just like making choux paste because choux paste has a double cook method and so does the recipe she gave me. Well, low and behold but it was the same thing but with just a few differences.....THIS ONE ACTUALLY WORKED!!
A double cook method is when you cook the pastry in a pot first then you add your eggs one at a time after your pastry mixture cools off and then you keep mixing it until the mixture sort of follows your spoon around the pot. Any who....as my Mom would say "then you put it into a pastry bag and squirt little balls for profiteroles or tuna puffettes, fingers for eclairs or fry it in hot oil and sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon to make "churros" or sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar and make beignets like they do down in New Orleans. Ok, that is my favorite story from Culinary school but it sure isn't my funniest. sorry
Ok, I forget myself. I was talking about Beef Bourguignon. Well, I have been wanting a good beef stew for weeks now so I decided I had to make "JULIA CHILD'S BEEF BOURGUIGNON and let me tell you when Julia says something is difficult she isn't just whistling dixie. It's not really that difficult it's just timeeeeeeeeee- consuminggggggg as in it will take you all day long to make it. I started at 10:30 am and I just got to eat my plateof Beef Bourguignon and it's almost 6pm.
But, be still my heart..
It is just perfection in a bowl, ohmygod. This is pretty much what they make exclamation points for!!!!!!
It's fricken deliciousssss!!! It's better than sex on a plate ..not that I have ever had sex on a plate but it is better than that cake they call better than sex cake. Much better!
It's even better than fricken delicious and that's about my highest compliment I can give any food.
The beef is super tender, the little boiler onions that are the size of a cherry tomato are so good but the sauce is the best thing I have put in my mouth in a long, long, time!!!
It has the richness we all crave in a sauce but it's even better than that. It thickens to the absolute right thickness not too thin and not to thick. It's like the perfect size of a sauce, you know how you always like always wanted to be that perfect size and only maybe managed it for like one or two days in your whole life? I do. I was a size 4 for 2 days back in the 1970's I don't even know if I got a picture of my perfect size because it only lasted a few days and then I got preggers. Oh yeah, that is how that works. You look great and then you get knocked up because you are so georgous...God is funny like that!!
Anyways, this sauce is perfection, absolutely perfection. My husband kept saying, Hey, this tastes pretty good. That really annoys me. It's NOT PRETTY GOOD, it's perfection and he has the audacity (*big word alert)to not even know that it's perfection. He made salmon last night that was over-cooked, vegetables that were undercooked and stale bread with butter on it for dinner and thought what he made was AMAZING!! But, I ate 3 bites of his salmon and veggies and put my plate in the kitchen uneaten where I am sure he gobbled up the remains. Men have no taste buds. None-zero-nada-nil-0
Because I think you will absolutely LOVE this recipe I am putting this on my blog and I double dog dare your butt to not like it...Double dog dare you!!!
And tell me to my face you didn't like it and I will probably smack you really hard too..
I worship at the oven that Julia cooked on and if it's good enough for her and me that should be good enough for you.
Just make it. Try it sometime when you have a whole day to waste and want something super delicious!
One little thing, I went all the way through Culinary school and never heard the culinary term "Lardons" but I looked it up because it's a new word and I like new words. You will see it used in this recipe and the method is actually quite easy and takes only about 10 minutes to complete from start to finish. Do not read the word LARDONS and then get scared and not try this recipe. I swear to all that is Holy, this recipe is worth it!!
Lardons is the French term for small matchstick-cut pieces of bacon or larding fat cut from the belly of pork. They are used to add moisture to lean meats while roasting, or in stews, fricassees, fried dishes, and more.
Lardons are often blanched before using to remove excess salt and fat. A main ingredients of Quiche Lorraine, hot fried lardons added to a frisée salad along with a poached egg make a French bistro classic.
With this last little bit I bid you all adieu.. Or better yet Bon Appetit!!
:) Chef Bren
Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon
Difficulty: Difficult
Servings: 6
Cook Time: Over 120 min
This recipe is adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961)
Cook Time: Over 120 min
One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
A crumbled bay leaf
18 to 24 white onions, small
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
A crumbled bay leaf
18 to 24 white onions, small
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered
Cooking Directions
Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.
In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).
Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.
Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.
Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.
Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.
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 lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, 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 stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.
Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.
Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.
