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julia child’s beef bourguignon

For my 22nd birthday, my Nonnie gave me a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Sitting at her kitchen table, as I unwrapped the tome that changed home cooking so monumentally, she gave me some advice. “Make the beef bourguignon first. And do not skip the bacon.”

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Like she is on most things culinary and otherwise, my Nonnie was right. Julia Child’s beef bourguignon is perfection, worth every bit of effort, and the bacon is absolutely essential. It is easily the best braised beef I’ve ever made and I’m sure those who’ve had the pleasure of eating it with us in years since I was first gifted the book would also agree.

And what is winter for if it isn’t to embrace braising? Dedicate an afternoon to Julia’s beef bourguignon, and don’t even think about skipping the bacon.

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Beef Bourguignon, adapted very slightly from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
6 oz bacon, cut into 1/2″ pieces
3 lbs lean stewing beef, cut into 2″ chunks (we used chuck roast)
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
salt, pepper, olive oil
3 cups red wine
2 – 3 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
20 small white onions, brown-braised
1 lb fresh mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters, sautéed in butter

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Preheat your oven to 450° F.  If you know your bacon is quite smoky, you may want to boil the bacon in some water for a few minutes to take out some of the smoke flavor before you sauté it. This is what Julia recommends, but I usually skip this step and skip right ahead to sautéing. In a cast iron pot, sauté the bacon over medium heat. After the bacon has browned lightly, remove it with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Take the pot with the bacon fat off the heat.

Cut the beef into 2 inch cubes and then pat them dry with paper towels. Heat the pot with the bacon fat over medium high heat until the fat is nearly smoking. If your bacon didn’t render off much fat, I would add a tablespoon of oil to the pot. Add a few cubes of the beef. Sear them, letting them sit without disturbing them for a few minutes per side, until they are a deep brown. Be sure to not crowd the pan or the beef will steam instead of browning. For about 2.5 pounds of meat, I did mine in four batches.

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While the beef is browning, cut the onion and carrot into chunks. After browning the last of the meat, add the vegetables. Brown them slightly and then remove them and set them aside.

Put the beef and bacon back into the pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and some fresh black pepper. Toss the beef to coat. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and toss to coat again. Set the pot in the middle of your 450° oven and cook for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and cook for another 4 minutes in the oven. Reduce the heat of the oven to 325°. Return the pot to the stove top and add the vegetables, wine, broth, tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. The meat should be just barely covered by liquid. Bring to a simmer on the stove top and then place in the oven. Cook in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the pearl onions. For the pearl onions, peel them if using fresh. If using frozen, defrost in water. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the onions and brown them on each side. Once browned, add 1/2 cup beef stock, a pinch of thyme and a bay leaf and reduce the heat to low. Let simmer covered for 20 minutes, until the onions are cooked through.

 

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If you’re making this in advance, you can prepare the beef and onions up until this point and then refrigerate them. You can then rewarm the beef by simmering it on the stove over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes before serving. I like to saute my mushrooms the day of serving because they are pretty easy to do while you’re cooking the potatoes.

In the last 45 minutes of cooking for the beef or 45 minutes before you want to eat, peel a few potatoes and cut them into quarters. Put them in a sauce pan and cover them with water. Season the water until it taste like sea water. Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 – 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash them, adding a bit of butter, milk, salt and pepper to taste. I usually do this in my kitchen aid mixer.

For the mushrooms, clean 1 pound of mushrooms and then cut them into halves or quarters depending on their size. Sauté over medium heat in 2 tablespoons of butter, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

When the meat is tender, remove it from the oven and place on the stovetop. Skim off any fat that may be floating on the surface of the meat. In my experience, there is very little beef fat to skim off, but I generally cook with leaner grass-fed beef.  You skim off any fat to prevent a greasy gravy because greasy gravy is gross. Taste the sauce for seasoning; it may need a little salt or pepper. Before serving, add in the braised onions and sautéed mushrooms to pot along with the beef and vegetables. Serve over mashed potatoes with a gravy boat of extra sauce on the side.

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-Emily

 

By The Answer is Always Pork

Cooking and Eating in San Francisco

29 replies on “julia child’s beef bourguignon”

Emily,

Thanks for sharing one of the mainstays of Julia’s vast repertoire. Not only was this dish my first eye-opening, fucking mind-blowing exposure to French food–at age 10 , it was also the dish that took my dad from a casual to a serious home cook. This was around 1967 and he fell in love with Julia.

He served it over rice and had Sara Lee croissants instead of dinner rolls. Rocked my world.

Then one night I was on my own with my sisters, and I really wanted to treat them so I decided I could rustle up some boeuf bourguignon. I proceeded to go through the recipe and found no red wine in the house. My eleven-year old mind figured booze is booze so I substituted gin. Whether or not I set the oven on fire is subject to fuzzy memory at this point. Suffice it to say, it was my first very small step into French cooking.

Now, nearly a half century later, I’ve made this French classic more than a few times, and I am wise enough to know that I am still climbing that ladder of French cuisine, and still on the lower steps. I know enough to use my own beef stock. I know that those pearl onions are a huge pain in the ass. I also have figured out that Julia, in the 1960’s, was trying to adapt classic French cooking to the American housewife and the ingredients she had available.

This brings me to the bacon. The classic French recipe calls for petit lardons. Whether or not they are smoked, as in lardon fume, I’m not sure. I do know that in Julia’s coq au vin recipe, she has you simmer and riinse the bacon to dispel the smoky taste of the bacon. Anyway, I’ve found recently that the perfect ingredient to use here is pancetta. It’s the right fat/lean balance, it crisps up when sautéed, and the flavor is porky but not dominantly smoky.

Ask Debi how she remembers my Dad’s first boeuf bourguignon. She wasn’t there that night for my gin substitution. Thank you for jogging these memories and for the inspiration.

Cheers, Jeff

Holy good gosh I’m dying laughing!!! I love your story and I am sure it’s a cherished family memory!!!

Hi there, can you tell me please what is the make of the oven crock used in the photo? SO reminds me of one my grandma had when I was small and I love the plain metal versus all the colored ones out there today! I can’t quite make out the first word in the name. If anyone can help me it would be much appreciated! Thank you, Kim

Hi! I have been meaning to try this recipe for quite sometime and I’m finally going to do it! My fiancé and I are foregoing the family party hopping from state to state this year for Christmas and staying in to eat and binge watch netflix. So I thought this would be the perfect time to try this!
I do have one question though. I am not knowledgeable on red wine and wondered if you recommend one in particular for this recipe?
Cassie

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. It was spot on delicious! I did not add neither bacon nor petits lardons as I did not have either, and, since the only comment I read was Jeff’s and he said pearl onions were a pain in the ass – I skipped that part too! But, followed everything else including the pre-requisite Le Creuset Dutch oven. Merci madame.

Loved the recipe and the description. Cooking it right now but I didn’t cover the pot! Looked on the internet and it said it’s supposed to be covered. Hopefully it doesn’t wreck it

I thought this recipe was spectacular!!! I did a trial run & my husband couldn’t wait for the dinner party we were trailing for… Everyone thought it was the best meal they ever had….
Thanks so much
Linda

One carrot for 3 lbs. of beef. Seem kind of skimpy. I would think at least a half a carrot per serving. For those of you that have made this several times – if I add more carrots do I add more liquid?

Hey, just did the Bourguignon, was super good. Was for a dinner party, everyone had it twice, with boiled potatoes. Thanks (forgive my English, I am French)

Thanks so much for this. I’m excited to make it for Christmas. I’ve made it once before several years back and it was delicious.

Just wondering — what did you serve on the side and how did you like it? It looks beautiful with the red and green.

So sad. I didn’t cover the pot because the recipe above didn’t say to. I checked other recipes posted and they all say to cover it when it goes into the oven. I should have known better. Otherwise it’s a great recipe. Knowing me, I won’t remember again next time I make it, so I’ll have to pin another.

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