Boeuf Bourguignon

If you have seen the movie Julie & Julia, about that other popular food blog, you may remember the pivotal role that the rustic French dish, Boeuf Bourguignon plays. In fact it played so great a role that boeuf bourguignon was billed third after the timeless Meryl Streep and the effervescent Amy Adams (source: iMDB).

Beef bourguignon is a traditional French peasant dish that has been turned into fine dining, from what probably began as a way to eat meat that was too tough otherwise. It is beef cubes stewed in red wine, with onions, mushrooms, and carrots. And butter. And this version has bacon. And bacon fat.




Here is the beef, seared on all sides, and bacon, waiting to be stewed. This by itself smelled so wonderfully fantastic that Amy and I weren't sure if we would make it through the whole process with anything left to eat.



The onions and carrots happily carmelizing.



The mushroom, thyme, and garlic, a powerful trio.



Final product! 1.5 hours later, beef bourguignon. True, it may not look appetizing, but the flavor is rich and amazing! Superb with a crusty bread, like our sourdough loaf.





And it's always worth it to cook and share with a friend. Bon Appetit! I mean, humble eats. Tomorrow: Sticky Lemon Chicken, Gordon Ramsay-style.