Beef Bourguignon - Julia Child's Recipe

The perfect Sunday meal. While this recipe takes some time to cook, you will have a new winter favorite. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 6-ounce piece of bacon (or use equivalent in bacon strips), cut into pieces
• 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 lbs stew meat, cut into 2-inch cubes 
• If you don't have stew meat, I suggest using a arm roast or chuck roast cut into 2 inch cubes. 
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups red wine *I used Burgundy (Example: Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 18 to 24 pearl onions, small
• 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
• Herbs - 4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth
• If you don't have cheesecloth, you can add in and remove. 
• 1 pound mushrooms, quartered

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Cook bacon until fat is rendered, drain and dry. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
• Dry beef in paper towels - you need to do this so the beef browns. Heat bacon fat and oil in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add browned beef to cooked bacon.
• After beef is browned, in the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
• Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Sprinkle on the flour and stir to coat the beef lightly. Place casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
• Stir meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and puts a light crust on the beef). Remove casserole from oven and turn 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, and herbs. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Next cook onions and mushrooms.

Cooking Onions & 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, carefully rolling them so they will brown as evenly..
• Carefully move them as you don't want to break the skins - you cannot brown them 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 tender and hold their shape (the liquid should have evaporated)
• Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
• Wipe out skillet.
• Heat remaining oil and butter over high heat.
• Add mushrooms to the hot pan. As they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.

• When the meat is tender, you are to remove the cooked carrots and onions.
• This recipe calls for you to remove all the contents of the dish to carefully remove the carrots and onions. I did not and did the remainder of this process all in one pan. The directions below about thickening or thinning the sauce is referring to all the contents being removed. 
• Distribute the cooked pearl 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.
• About 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly should be in pan.
• If too thin, boil it down rapidly.
• If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock.
• Serve with potatoes, noodles or rice, and top with fresh parsley.