Hello everyone! Wow what a rollercoaster the month of October has been. Sorry for the delays on this recipe. I’ve been doing school, going to visit my friend in the hospital when he was on life support (btw, rest in paradise JP), and attending a viewing for my uncle and then his funeral. Oy.
Without further adieu, let me say that this recipe for the boeuf bourguignon (beef stew) took about half a day to cook; I also don’t know where my pressure cooker went otherwise it wouldn’t have taken half my day to cook. It was worth it in the end though. If you don’t have all of your ingredients ready for prep, it will take much longer for the recipe, so I would advise you to have everything ready (ie: veggies chopped, meat ready and cubed, bouquet garni in place, etc.).
Boeuf Bourguignon on white rice
Boeuf Bourguignon
adapted from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Boeuf-Bourguignon-104754
Prepping time: 1hr 30 mins (may be longer or shorter depending on if all ingredients are ready)
Cooking time: 3-4 hrs 30 mins (if using pressure cooker, will be much less time)
Ingredients:
3 pounds boneless beef chuck, cubed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup brandy (caution: emits flames) — if don’t have, can use dry red wine
2 onions, finely chopped
1.5 tsp refrigerated chopped garlic (in glass bottle), or 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 tablespoon ketchup (can use tomato paste, but I ran out)
1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine (I used Merlot)
1pound mushrooms, quartered if large
2-3 cups water (dilute red wine)
sugar, to taste (so wine won’t make the stew so bitter)
Bouquet garni:
1 (4-inch) piece of celery
garlic parsley salt, rubbed on meat
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp powdered cloves
Accompanies a side dish of potatoes, or goes on white rice well.
Pat beef dry and season with salt (or garlic parsley salt) and pepper. Coat all sides of meat with flour.
Heat 1‚ tablespoons oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a wide 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown beef well on all sides in 2 or 3 batches, without crowding, adding remaining ‚ tablespoon oil as needed. Transfer to a bowl.
Pour off any excess oil from pot, then add brandy (or 1/2 cup red wine) to pot. Deglaze by boiling over high heat 1 minute, stirring and scraping up brown bits, then pour over beef. **Caution: with brandy, there will be flames**
Optional to tie celery and bay leaves together with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni. You can fish them out later too.
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in cleaned pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides and add chopped onions, garlic, and carrots, then sauté, stirring, until onions are pale golden, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste (or ketchup) and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the rest of the wine, 2-3 cups of water to dilute wine flavor, sugar to taste, meat with juices, and bouquet garni and simmer gently, partially covered, until meat is tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
Heat remaining tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saute mushrooms, stirring, until golden brown and any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir mushrooms into stew and cook 10 minutes (while still simmering). Remove bouquet garni ingredients and skim any fat from surface of stew. Season with salt and pepper. (Fat is easily removed after refrigeration as it will be more visible on surface)
Phew! It took long to cook but was highly enjoyable. I pared this dish with a side dish of irio, which is a Kenyan side dish that consists mainly of potatoes and green vegetables. In the picture, I pared the boeuf bourguignon over white rice. Either is acceptable and delicious in their own way. In the next post, I will include the recipe for irio. Until then, happy eatings!
No comments:
Post a Comment