Boeuf Bourguignon

Believe it or not, this is easier than you think to make- it just is a little more time consuming than just throwing everything in a pot and praying it all works out. There is a method to the madness, but I promise you it is worth it. The movie Julie & Julia made it seem as though this was the meal to make and was the most difficult. While the flavor is amazing, it really is simple (just don't fall asleep). The secret is in the dutch oven, the placement of the pot in the oven, and (of course) the wine! I also added tomatoes to the recipe to give it a little more robust flavoring. It isn't Julia's recipe, but pretty damn close! So let's channel our inner Julia, put La Vie en Rosé on repeat and think of France! Let's Cook!

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The Tools

• Dutch Oven

• Knife

• Wooden Spoon

• Cutting Board

• Bowls

• Paper Towels

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The Ingredients

• 2lbs of Stew Meat

• 6-8 strips of Bacon

• 2 Large Carrot (or a Handful of Baby Carrots)

• 3 Cloves Garlic- Minced

• 1 Onion- Chopped

• 2lbs Mushrooms

• 28oz Can of Diced Tomatoes

• 2.5 Cups Beef Broth

• 2.5 Cups Red Wine- Burgundy or Merlot works best!

• 3Tbsp Flour

• 1 Small Can Tomato Paste

• 1 Stick Butter

• Bay Leaf

• 1 Tbsp Dried Parsley

• 1 Tbsp Dried Thyme

• Salt

• Pepper

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Let's Cook!

1. Preheat Oven to 425 degrees.

2. Taking each piece of stew meat, dry all sides in paper towels to allow for browning- set aside.

3. Take bacon and cut into pieces. Add into dutch oven over high heat. Cook down until brown. Remove bacon and set aside. Drain most of the grease.

4. To hot dutch oven, brown stew meat on all sides. Add in bacon, carrots, garlic, onion and tomatoes and tomato paste to dutch oven, and stir. Sprinkle in flour and spices and mix well.

5. Add beef broth and wine, a pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Add bay leaf and cover. Put into oven on second shelf from bottom of oven. Cook for 2 to 2.5 hours.

6. At one hour mark, prepare your mushrooms. Take a frying pan and melt down one stick of butter (the mushrooms will absorb a lot of it). Add mushrooms, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, or until mushrooms have browned. Once browned, remove stew from oven, and stir in mushrooms.

7. By now the stew should hav thickened a bit. This is great! If really thick, add in a little more wine or broth and stir. Recover and continue cooking.

8. At 2 hour mark, check the tenderness of the beef. It should be fork tender and begin fall apart. If meat is still a little thick, return to oven for another 30 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Bon Appétit!

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Food for Thought

• Typically this dish is made with pearl onions. For the life of me, I could not find any in the store, so I substituted a chopped onion. If you can find pearl onions, add those in instead.

• Again, I added canned tomatoes as a preference for my stews. You do not have to add them, they just add moisture and flavor.

• Every oven is different. Keep an eye on it the first time you make it to really know how long it will take to make.

• If you want to make this throughout the day, drop your oven temperature down to 350 degrees and cook for 3 to 3.5 hours. Low and slow is always best for stews.