March 26th

The Finale

Doug's stew Sundays came to an end tonight with this finale recipe.  He will probably start them again in October.  It's bittersweet...I'm happy they're over because I'm kind of getting tired of eating stew, but I'm also sad because that means I have no one to cook for me on Sundays anymore.

Beuf Bourguignon 
recipe from: The French Kitchen Cookbook

This was a good finale.  This stew had tons of flavor, the meat was super tender, and it was very hearty.  The only thing I would do differently is use regular onions instead of pearl onions because I just don't really like them.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 6 oz bacon
• 3 lbs boneless beef chuck or beef round, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbs all purpose flour
• 3 cups red wine
• 1 1/2-2 cups beef stock
• 1 bouquet garni of 2 thyme sprigs, 2 parsley sprigs, and 3 bay leaves tied with string
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 tbs butter
• 12 oz pearl onions
• 3 1/2 cups white button mushrooms
• chopped parsley to garnish
• mashed potatoes to serve

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish over medium heat (we used a dutch oven).  Add the bacon and brown for 2-13 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon.  Add the beef in batches to the dish and cook until browned.  Drain and keep with the bacon.  Add the carrots and chopped onions to the dish and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute until just golden.  Return the meat and bacon to the casserole dish. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and cook for 1 minute, stirring.  Add the wine, enough stock to cover, the bouquet garni, and the salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer gently for 3 hours.
2. Heat half the butter in a skillet.  Add the pearl onions, cover, and cook until softened.  Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm.  Heat the remaining butter in the skillet.  Add the mushrooms and saute briefly.  Set aside mushrooms and keep warm.
3. Remove the casserole dish from the heat and strain the casserole liquid through a strainer into a clean saucepan.  Wipe the casserole dish with paper towels and transfer the meat mixture, mushrooms, and onions to the dish.  Discard the bouquet garni.  Remove the surface fat from the casserole liquid, simmer for 1-2 minutes to reduce, then pour it over the meat and vegetables in the dish.  Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and with mashed potatoes on the side.

Grades:

Megan - A (As said above, this was top-notch stew.  It takes a long time to cook, but it's kind of a set-it-and-forget-it type dish.  Plus, it's worth the wait!)

Noelle - B- (Noelle started out loving this and was saying, "more beef! more beef!" while I was feeding it to her.  Then she suddenly changed tunes and wouldn't eat any more.  I'm not sure if she just got full or if she decided she didn't like it anymore.  Either way, she only ate about half her serving.)