In the College Kitchen with Jenna: Boeuf Bourguignon
This is a delightful French dish. I’m not sure if I’ve had it before this week, but probably not. I’d surely remember it!!!! It’s basically beef stew with fewer healthy vegetables and more wine.
I got this recipe from an actual French person’s mother, soooooo it’s probably authentic.
Full disclosure: The ingredients are expensive (about $10 for the beef) and it takes a long time to cook.
2-2.5 lbs. of chuck roast (in 2 inch cubes)
3/4 bottle of red wine (supposed to be from Bourgogne, but your basic pinot noir should work––especially since you’re about to set it on fire)
Olive oil
2 T. butter
10 tiny onions or 1 large onion quartered
1 bunch of parsley and thyme (also laurels were in the recipe, but H-E-B doesn’t have that)
2 T. flour
Salt
Pepper
6 or 7 medium sized carrots, chopped
6 or 7 smaller red potatoes, diced
About 1/4 c of beef stock (optional)
Directions:
In a heavy saucepan (with a tight fitting lid), sauté the onion in melted butter until golden. Then, move the onions to a plate and add the beef to the same pot. Pour about 1/4 cup of olive oil to cover the beef and stir until browned on all sides. Sprinkle the flour over the beef and stir.
Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, bring the wine to a boil. SET WINE ON FIRE! The fire should go out on its own. (If not, call someone else because I’m not sure what that means.) Pour hot wine over the beef, and add beef stock.
Add onion, carrots, chopped parsley and thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper. Cover the pot and cook on low heat for three hours.
After you’ve watched all of Titanic, add the diced potatoes, put a lid on it, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Serve hot!! (apparently you are not supposed to eat the thyme…so don’t do that or you might turn into Charles de Gaulle).
Serves 4
It was absolutely delicious. I want to have this everyday, forever. Frenchman’s opinion was that the beef was perfect (of course, because it’s Texan beef), and that it was really good. His only criticism was that “maybe next time you should respect the wine”––but for the record, he chose the wine.
