Boeuf Bourguignon

Confidence Builders.
That was the title of an episode of the French Food at Home cooking show I happened to catch early Sunday morning.  It caught my attention when I randomly clicked it on and is on the sister channel to the Food Network which is simply called The Cooking Channel. 
The host of this show, Laura Caulder, started with the comment that there are days when you need a confidence boost.  She said there are some days that for no apparent reason we feel there isn't a thing we do well.  There might be no reason for that feeling and sometimes you just wake up with it.  The show hooked me there.  I have those days - do I ever have those days!  I have them more often than I should so I kept watching.  She went on to say the best way to beat that feeling is to go back to basics and do something fail-proof and simple that puts you back where you should be and reinforces the confidence in what you do.  Her way of beating that under-confident feeling was by preparing the classic Boeuf Bourguignon.  I watched as she prepared it and then I made it.

I started with a chuck roast that I cut into generous cubes.  Yeah, an inexpensive chuck roast but sirloin tips can also work.  You need to use a pot that can go from stovetop to oven and heat a little olive oil in it.  Sear up the meat until it is browned but you are not cooking them fully.  It should be only enough to give them some color and then remove them from your pot.

 Rough cut some carrots and onions.  Mince some garlic and have your bouquet garni - parsley, thyme and bay leaves ready.  Throw the carrots and onions into the same pot you browned the meat in and let them sweat and soften. The garlic goes in for just a minute and then some flour (about 1/4 cup) and stir while you continue to cook for another minute.

Then add the herbs.

 
 
After the vegetables and herbs have been added to the pot, pour in some red wine to de-glaze the bottom of the pot and bring up all those wonderful food flavors that might have stuck to the bottom.  Add an equal amount of stock.

Add the meat back into the pot and bring it to a boil.Then cover it and put it into the oven at 325 degrees for two hours.  Yes - This will slow braise that meat and give off the most incredible scent!  I actually left it in the over for 3 1/2 hours.

When it finally comes out of the oven you will see that it looks and smell so rich you could eat it just like this but don't!  It gets even better!  Take the meat out of the pot and put into a separate bowl.



 
Once the meat is removed, reduce the gravy to a desired thickness.
 When the sauce reaches the desired consistency, strain the gravy over the meat and discard the herbs and vegetables. You can then return the meat and gravy back into the pot.
 

Just look how luscious, rich and smooth this is!  Now for part two!

The classic additions to the above beef and gravy is bacon, pearl onions and mushrooms. I prepped these items first and had them ready since it goes really fast from here.




Brown the bacon to make it crisp and renders the fat.  Remove from pan.

Saute the onions and mushrooms to give them some color - yes, in the same pan with bacon fat.

Add it all back together - meat with wine gravy, onions, bacon and mushrooms.  I added a little chopped, fresh parsley.  Ahhh...can you smell it? It's soooo good!

We also started out making some boiled parsley-buttered potatoes to go with it.  Jay saw that I had already cooked the potatoes (with skin on), had peeled them, and left them on a plate to add to the butter and parsley.  He had another idea. He sliced the cooked potato and browned them on both side and then added salt and more parsley.  Mmmmm...!

All I wanted to do was serve it up in a bowl to get each delectable bite and sop it up with a crispy baguette.  So this is how it ended up....

No...truthfully...
This is how it ended up...

This certainly is a confidence builder!  I had never actually made the Classic Beouf Bourguignon until now and am so happy (and full) that I did! 

TT

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If you want the exact recipe...I have included the link.  I didn't go by these exact measurements because I made a much smaller portion.  Yes - I eye-balled it.  How's that for confidence!

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/beef-bourguignon-recipe/index.html