As summer draws to a close, it’s time for great fall dishes. A bowl of savory stew after raking leaves or a slice of apple pie next to a crackling fire conjour up images of Americana, and make me hungry and thirsty! So let’s embrace the coming change in weather and offer up a recipe or two to ease the transition from shorts to sweaters.
If you like a good stew, and I do, I say go with the classic, boeuf bourguignon! It is not a difficult dish, but it is time consuming. My favorite is a variation on a Julia Child’s recipe. It will be an all day affair, but worth the trouble.
Start with a six ounce cube of bacon or thick cut strips if you can’t find a cube. Cut it into 1 1/2 pieces roughly 1/2 thick. Simmer the bacon for 10 minutes in 6 cups of water. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and dry on a paper towel. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in an ovenproof casserole dish that is at least 4″ deep and 10″ wide. Add the dried off bacon and cook over moderate heat for 3 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a side plate. Add 3 pounds of lean stew meat cut into 2″ cubes in small enough batches that the pieces don’t touch each other. Once the meat pieces are nicely browned add them to the bacon plate. Add 1 large onion (medium diced) and 1 large carrot (medium dice) to the casserole until they soften. This generally takes 5 minutes. Add the onion and carrots, using the slotted spoon to the side plate with the bacon and meat.
Drain the fat after you have cooked the vegetables and add everything on the plate back to the casserole. Add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper and 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour and stir well. Place the casserole in the oven that is pre heated to 450 degrees for 5 minutes, uncovered.
Remove the casserole and lower the oven to 325 degrees. Add 3 cups of good red wine, 2-3 cups of unsalted beef stock, 1 tablespoons of tomato paste, 3 mashed or pressed garlic cloves, 1 sprig of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon if using dried and 2 bay leafs. Simmer the casserole on the stove top until you see little bubbles forming in the liquid. The meat and vegetables should be covered by the liquid. Add more stock or wine if needed.
Cover and simmer in the over for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the meat is fork tender. Before we get to the pearl onions and sautéed mushrooms you need to finish the dish, let’s discuss the term “good red wine.”
If you don’t want to drink it, don’t cook with it, is my motto! The traditional dish called for a French Burgundy wine. That may be a high price point for you to cook with, as the starting point tends to be more than $50 a bottle for a good red burgundy. Here are a few choices for you. I would say if you want to splurge get a burgundy in a less desirable vintage. 2008 would be an option, but might be hard to find. A good option right at $50 is 2011 Bouchard Pere & Fils du Chateau Premiere Cru Rouge. The 2012 Villages is $35. If you are more in the $25 a bottle range, go with a Pinot noir from California or New Zealand or a red Bordeaux. Remember to buy 2 bottles as you will need one to serve with the finished dish.
Now back to our boeuf. As it cooks prepare the onions and mushrooms. The onions are pearl onions. You can find fresh ones at a good grocer and they deliver a slightly better final product, but are a lot of work to peel. If you go frozen, you will have enough to make several boeuf bourguignons. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter to a large non stick skillet and melt it over medium heat. If using frozen onions make sure you thawed them. Add 24 onions to the melted butter and brown nicely, but don’t let them split. This should take 8-10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of beef stock, 1 bay leaf, 1 thyme sprig and 2 parsley sprigs and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer on low heat for 40-50 minutes. They are done when the onions are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. You will need to taste one. When they are done remove the onions and discard the broth and left over herbs.
To make the mushrooms heat 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a skillet large enough to hold 1 pound of quartered button mushrooms over high heat. Once the butter is melted and the pan stops foaming, add the mushrooms in one batch. The mushrooms should be browned lightly in about five minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and set aside.
To finish the boeuf, remove the casserole from the oven, and empty all the contents into a strainer set over a sauce pan. Wipe out the casserole and return the contents of the strainer to the casserole. Any herbs or vegetables that are not easily put back in the pan, leave in the strainer. Spread the pearl onions and browned mushrooms over the casserole.
In the sauce pan is the sauce that makes this more than just a stew. To finish the sauce, simmer the saucepan and spoon off any fat. After about 2 minutes you should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce and it should coat the back of a spoon. If it is too thick add a few drops of stock. If it’s too thin, keep simmering. Taste it and add salt and pepper to taste, if necessary.
Once the sauce is done, pour it over the contents of the casserole and heat on the stove for 3 minutes on medium low heat to warm everything to a consistent temperature.
Boeuf bourguignons are traditionally served over egg noodles or boiled parsley potatoes. Either work great. If you want to make this in advance or have leftovers (for shame!) allow the casserole to cool completely and cover it and place it in the refrigerator. 20 minutes before you want to serve it, reheat it over low to medium low heat, “basting” the meat and vegetables every few minutes.
Grab a baguette and that second bottle of “good red wine” and enjoy!
What’s for dessert you ask? Apple pie and a great dessert wine pairing in my next installment. Send me questions, comments or pictures of your boeuf bourguignons. Bon appetite!