Bœuf Bourguignon

Les recettes Bourguignonnes de tante Margot

I came across a copy of Les recettes bourguignonnes de tante Margot. Biensûr it contained a recipe for bœuf bourguignon. Mom used to make this for Christmas dinner. I make it at least once a winter.

Bœuf Bourguignon recipe

Went to the marché in St-Gengoux-le-national to pick up a few groceries for the weekend. Makings for salad, chicken soup and this yummy beef stew. It is without a doubt that the beef sold is of charolais origin. The burgundian hills are peppered with these elegant, white cows. The boucher proposed a burgundy cut and I requested that he throw a couple of cow cheeks into the mix. Having enjoyed pork cheeks earlier that day for lunch, I was excited by the thought of using something as exotic. Smoked bacon was also on my list.

Elegant charolais

After a few intensive days of travelling the French countryside, I declared Saturday a farmhouse day. Laundry and cooking!

Lardons of smoked pork

Bourguignon mix at the top and
beef jowls at the bottom

Such a small range for such a grand dish

Pearl onions are called "grelot" or small bells

Bœuf bourguignon simmering away in an old Creuset pot.

Bœuf Bourguignon

This recipe is adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961)

Ingredients

One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon

3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons flour

3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

1/2 teaspoon thyme

A crumbled bay leaf

18 to 24 white onions, small

3 1/2 tablespoons butter

Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)

1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

 

Cooking Directions

Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.
In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.

Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).

Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.
Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.

Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms. Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat. When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top. Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.

Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

Bon appétit!

Saint-Gengoux-le-nationale : : October 2

How many fires burned in this hearth?

"Jet Lag derives from the simple fact that jets travel so fast they leave your body rhythms behind."

By Rebecca Maksel airspacemag.com June 17, 2008

Wake early in the attic. Come down the attic stairs to put the coffee on. The sun slowly rises over the fields. Blond charolais moo in the distance while the sheep slowly wake. Take it all in. Savour the moment. Light a fire. Read over a bowl of coffee. Breakfast consists of an omelet and toasted baguette. 

Aahh! Morning coffee...

Walk the long way to Saint-Gengoux-le-nationale. Boulanger for a baguette. At the tourism office, a price is negotiated for two bicyclettes for the month.  Since the village closes down at noon to 14h... or so a visit to the épicier is in order for a few things... Nutella, Dijon mustard, vegetables, apples, milk. Then to the boucher for a piece of fromage and 100 g of jambon fumé. 

There is mention of this village church in 950.

Café de Jouvence for a déjeuner. Premier plat: greens and lentil salad with smoked ham. Followed by andouille (yummy sausage) and pasta. Let's not forget the cheese or fromage blanc which is a fresh curdled milk cheese in its whey. Sugar is offered. Since the motto of the trip is "We do it all", the sugar is accepted. Dessert is included, so tarte aux framboises and tarte chocolat. A café to finish things off. Needless to say, no need to eat for the rest of this day.

Bicycle back to Sercy... via the short way. Beautiful day!

La ferme d'Annemarie

For a very long time I have dreamed of living in France for an extended period. A month. Two months. 6 months. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayles surely nourished the idea. Last January, my friend Joanna and I were having lunch in Schomberg and I threw the idea at her: "Jo, how about a month in the South of France?" Without hesitation she said yes. Yes. I latched onto this word and by the next morning had located a lovely farm house in Burgundy. Not quite the South but it was France and the house oh so lovely. We agreed on the month of October, nine months away.

After travelling by plane, train and automobile, a total of 17 hours, we arrived at La ferme d'Annemarie yesterday, October 1. Exhausted but exhilarated.

Dating back to the 19th century, one side of the house is flanked by a typical mâconnais veranda. Stone was used in the construction as it was and still is an abondant resource of the mâcon countryside. The ground floor is reserved for the cellar. The second floor or "maison haute" is made up of a large room with a great hearth and a large adjacent room. At the end of the veranda, stairs lead to the attic.

Without a doubt this house was the home of a "vigneron" or winegrower. His was a simple existence, his only tool a pick used to care for his vineyard. Following the harvest, the grapes would be taken to the local château or the house of the local bourgeois.

The typical mâconnais veranda.

The veranda acted as an outdoor vestibule,
a kitchen and a place where the lady of the house
loved spending time and chat with the villagers.