Boeuf Bourguignon - So Much More Than Beef Stew!

Ok, everybody, let the juices flow and the lip smacking begin!  Welcome again to Cèpage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s wine and food blog.  We want to share with you a classic dish Mary prepared recently during a visit by her sister, Fran, and our friends and neighbors, Mike and Dorothy.  Boeuf Bourguignon really is so much more than beef stew.  This recipe is pretty much lifted from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Julia’s recipe takes up three pages of the book and includes about 20 ingredients.  Some of the ingredients even have their own recipe with more ingredients!  It is a bit of a project, so think in terms of a weekend or a special occasion, even though it is essentially French country cooking.  Without rushing, it is a two day project if you make your own stock from scratch.  It is rich, delicious, and satisfying.  So, here we go!

Here are the basic ingredients, not all.  For example, you don't see the oils and butter.  The key element is the beef, of course.  As Julia recommends, we use rump roast.  Your butcher can cut it for you into small chunks.  You also see bacon, carrots, onion, garlic, pearl onions, mushrooms (champignons), and herbs.  The jar is homemade beef stock.  A word about that... Real beef stock, like real chicken stock, makes a huge difference in the richness and flavor of the dish.  It takes time, but it's worth it!  You can buy neck bones or other parts at the meat department of your supermarket and combine that with vegetables and seasonings to make something special.  Make a big pot and freeze it!  Recipes for stock are widely available.

Put the beef on paper towels to dry it so it will brown nicely.  If you don't, then the beef gets steamed in the pan, instead of browned.

The bacon is cut into small pieces, then cooked in a Dutch oven.  The bacon provides flavor and fat for cooking other ingredients.

The beef is browned a few pieces at a time so they are not crowded and not touching in the pan.  Once again, this is important for browning, not steaming.

The bacon and beef have been removed.  Onions and carrots are cooked in the remaining fat until browned.  The meat is returned, seasoned with salt and pepper, and the flour added and tossed.  The pot is put into the oven for four minutes at 450 degrees, then the mixture is tossed, and cooked four minutes more to create a nice crust.,

The pot is removed from the oven and the entire bottle of wine is added, then the beef stock to cover the meat.  This is the braising liquid.  Once again, the extra time and effort to make beef stock will be worth it.

Let it braise!

While the beef is cooking, the onion and mushrooms are prepared.  The onions are blanched, cooled, husked out of the peel, cooked in olive oil and butter (wow!), then the frying pan is placed in the oven for an hour.  The mushrooms are sliced and also cooked in olive and butter (wow, again!) for about 10 minutes.  This can be done when things are almost ready.

Here's a class photo.  See how everybody is getting happy?  This is just before the assemblage.  The mashed potatoes form a bed for the beef braise, and topped with mushrooms, onions, and green peas.  Once again, here's the final product:

Here's the happy crowd!

Now, a word about wine.  Many red wines would pair just fine with this dish.  One might think intuitively that a red Burgundy would be the logical choice since the dish is native to Burgundy. I selected a Bordeaux-style blend, however, from a mountainside appellation in Napa Valley.  Here's a photo:

This wine is by Random Ridge Vineyard on Mt. Veeder, high above the Napa Valley floor.  I have blogged previously about Mt. Veeder.  It is a remote, rugged area, tough on grapes, so they produce intense flavors.  This wine is a blend of half Cabernet Sauvignon and half Cabernet Franc.  It is a mature wine, 1993, and was poured from magnum, equivalent to two regular 750 ml bottles.  Here are my notes on the wine:

Random Ridge wines are always a pleasure, always complex and balanced, and age beautifully.  Here is a 17 year-old wine that is elegant, beautiful, seamlessly compatible with food, a treat.  It had a medium garnet color and wonderful aromas of cedar, leather, sage and other herbs, possibly some violet, currant, and dark cherry.  I think the Cabernet Franc brings a distinctive floral note to complement the Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Cabernet Franc also adds a little softness to the wine, although after this much time, it has pretty much settled to a lovely refinement anyway.  The palate was silky smooth with medium acidity and exquisite balance.  Bill didn't include the alcohol percentage on his wines back then, but I would guess high 12s to low 13s.  Red currant, the same cedar, leather, and herbal qualities, and red cherry appear on the flavor profile.  Wonderfully balanced, complex, and a finish that lasts well over a minute make this an excellent wine.  50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Cabernet Franc, alcohol not labeled.  We paid $55 for this wine.

It was quite a production.  Mary invested her creative energy providing a fantastic dinner for us.  Hail to the chef!  Thank you!

That's our post for today.  The food was divine, the wine was beautiful, the friends, family, and conversation warm and convivial.  That's what it's all about, isn't it?  Thanks, Fran, for your expert photography! Check back for more blog posts at Cèpage et Cuisine.  In the meantime,

Cheers,

Brian♥Mary