Julia Child. Amen.

I'm currently reading Julia Childs book - My life in France.
Its fantastic. The way she describes food makes me wish the recipes were right there in the book.
Naturally, i wanted to make her most famous recipe while reading it - so i tackled it.

The recipe is time consuming and detailed, but oh so worth it!
I made it over the course of 2 days (as i foolishly started at 8pm) but it turned out amazing so i dont think it was a problem!

Before we get started, i think its important to note i am not a food photographer :)

Beouf Bourgenonne. <--link/source!

Assemble your ingredients

• 6oz salt pork - i could only find a 12 oz package, so i just cut it in half
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 sliced onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups Chianti wine
• 3 cups brown beef stock 
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• A crumbled bay leaf
• The blanched bacon rind
• 18 to 24 pearl onions 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 sprigs parsley
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Parsley sprigs

Yes some of the ingredients repeat themselves - the recipe is done in stages, so thats how its written out. You'll use them all! 

Remove rind, and cut salt pork into lardoons (sticks, ¼-inch thick and 1 1/2-inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 ½ quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Now - here the recipe calls for you to use a French oven: 

swoon!

As i dont (yet!) have one of these beauties, i used a frying pan and then my crock pot - worked out just fine! 

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

                                      

Ya know that grits recipe i posted 2 days ago? Yea, there they are boiling away while i fry the bacon. 

Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the onion and carrot. Pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the veggies (move into oven safe dish) and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour. Set uncovered in middle of pre-heated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust. Remove dish, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

(Move meat and veggies into stock pot on stove) Stir in the wine and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole (or in my case, move into crock pot) and set in lower third of pre-heated oven (turn crock pot on low). Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 ½ to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

Remember what i said about not being a food photographer? Yikes. 


This is where i stopped for the night. After it cooked for 3 hours, i took the crock-pot out of the base and stuck it in the fridge on a pot holder.


Next (or while the beef is cooking) prepare the onions and mushrooms.

The onions i bought had the skins on, so i boiled a few inches of water and stuck them in there for a minute or so. This loosened up the skins and made them much easier to peel.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet and add the onions to the skillet. Sauté over medium heat for about ten minutes, rolling the onions about so they brown as evenly as possible, without breaking apart. Pour in the stock, season to taste, add the herbs, and cover. Simmer over low heat for about 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Remove the herbs and set the onions aside.

                                      

For the mushrooms, heat the butter and oil over high heat in a large skillet. As soon as the foam begins to subside add the mushrooms and toss and shake the pan for about five minutes. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat. Set the mushrooms aside until needed.

Hm...apparently i didnt take any photos of the mushrooms. 

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 bacon to it (i skipped that step - as you can see). Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim the fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 ½ 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 of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. 

For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Place parsley springs on top and serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice and decorated with parsley. Or simply serve in a bowl with a piece of fresh bread. 

yum. 

Bon appetit!

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

Thank you Julia Child. Amen.