I’ve done it, officially. I went and made Beef Bourgignonne like Julia Child. Except I’m sure her’s was much better, as I am did not attend culinary school. And no, I hadn’t been watching Julie & Julia beforehand. I was simply flipping through my collection of Food Network magazines for new recipes to try and stumbled upon this. A while back the magazine had done a special glimpse into the movie and provided the recipe for Beef Bourgignonne. (It took me a while to learn how to spell that, by the way.)
Parts of this dish were infuriating and others were quite pleasant. I’ll explain what I mean in the bulk of the recipe. For now, enjoy the recipe!
*drum roll* Julia Child’s Beef Bourgignonne *unfurls banner*
[ T = tablespoon, C = cup, tsp = teaspoon ]
6 strips of thick-cut bacon, chopped
2.5 lbs of flat-iron or tri-tip beef, cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 medium carrots, diced
2 medium onions, diced
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 celery stalk, about 4″ in length
3 T. all-purpose flour
1 T. tomato paste
1/2 C. brandy (you can substitute apple juice here)
2 C. dry red wine
2 C. beef stock
2 T. unsalted butter
3/4 C. pearl onions, diced
1 t. sugar
1 C. quartered button mushrooms
I won’t lie. This dish does take effort and will take a little while to cook. I saved this dish for a Friday because I don’t have class or work then. With a little patience and time set aside, you should have no problem cooking this dish!
Pre-heat the oven to 325 F. You’ll be using this a little later, so as long as you turn it on while you are working on the stove-top, then it should be fine.
Pull out a 6-8 qt. dutch oven. If you don’t have one of these then a large pot will be your next best bet. Try for non-stick as the meat and other ingredients will like to adhere to the bottom.
Throw the bacon pieces into the pot and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Then remove them with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pot. You can just set them aside on a small plate for now. Next we will be cooking the beef.
Pat the beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Add the beef to the pot in a single layer. You may have to do multiple batches. You are going to sear the beef on all sides, which takes 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the beef. Later you will be cooking the soup in the oven and I promise the beef will be cooked thoroughly. Once the beef has finished cooking, take the slotted spoon and transfer to the plate with the bacon.
Now add the carrots and onions to the pot. Cook until these are softened and slightly browned, about 7-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
While the carrots and onions are cooking, you’ll be making a “bouquet garni,” according to Julia. This isn’t like a flower bouquet. Grab your celery stalk, garlic cloves, thyme, parsley and the bay leaf. Wedge the garlic cloves in the crease of the celery stalk, then place the bay leaf on top. Lastly add the thyme and parsley. Wrap this little bouquet with some food-safe twine. This is the point at which I panicked a little. I don’t just have food-safe twine laying around, sheesh Julia. I scoured the house for something I could use. After a few moments, a little light bulb turned on inside my head. I pulled out my box of Lipton tea bags. I proceeded to pull the little strings off of like 10 of the tea bags. Then I began to tie them together to make a string long enough to securely wrap the bouquet together. This is how resourceful I’ve gotten. Tea bag strings…but it works! So ready the tea bag strings if you, like me, have no twine.
Return the bacon and beef to the pot once the carrots and onions have had their 7-8 minutes in the firey depths of the pot. Add the flour at this point; stir until the meat has been coated. Stir in the tomato paste as well.
Now we’ll add the brandy. The only reason I didn’t use the brandy was because there was none on hand. As I do not want to go out and purchase such an expensive item, I looked for an alternative. What I found was either white wine, apple juice, or sometimes white grape. Just use the same amount as there would have been brandy. If you are worried about the alcohol, don’t be. The alcohol evaporates during the cooking process. This will apply to the wine as well obviously. Once you’ve added the brandy or your substitute, cook until reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Do the same with the wine, though this may take about 10 minutes to reduce. Add the stock and bouquet you’ve worked so hard to make (or at least I did); bring to a low boil. Stir gently, you don’t want to disturb the little bouquet too much.
Cover the pot and then place in the oven. If your pot is rather large you may need to remove an oven rack. I had to remove one. Cook for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. The meat should be tender. You should also stir occasionally.
While you are waiting for the oven portion to finish, let’s combine the ingredients for the last step. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the pearl onions and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and 1/4 C. of water; cook until the water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms, cooking until browned, about 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and then set aside, off the heat.
Pull the pot out of the oven and start removing the meat. Let it sit on a plate to the side. Then skim the fat off the top of the stew with a spoon. After this step you may return the meat to the pot. Add the pearl onion and mushroom mixture to the pot and heat through.
According to Julia, we are on a first name basis now – the dish is best if made a day ahead of time. But after smelling this during the cooking process, there was no way I was going to wait a day. Absolutely not. I’m too impatient. Enjoy the spoils of your effort with a toasted piece of french bread. The Boyfriend and I did.
