Boeuf Bourguignon avec Nouilles Aux Oeufs

Inspired by the movie, Julie & Julia

Made this using chuck and serve on top of egg noodles.
Original recipe created by Julia Child | Serves 3

Kitchen Supplies:

• 5 quart dutch oven
  
• Slotted spoon

Boeuf Bourguignon:

• 6 ounces bacon (use plain salt-cured)
  
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
• 1 1/4 pound lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes (I used chuck)
  
• 1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
  
• 1 brown onion, cut into eighths
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti (can also use a Shiraz or Syrah
  
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• Crumbled bay leaf
• Blanched bacon rind
• 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter (recipe below)
  
• Parsley sprigs
• Cooked egg noodles
  

Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Add oil to dutch oven and sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Raise the heat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Set the beef aside with the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Remove the vegetables to a side dish and pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef, bacon, and vegetables to the dutch oven and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set the dutch oven uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove dutch oven from the oven and put it on the stove top. Turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock into the dutch oven so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers
very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef, bacon, and vegetables to it. Distribute the cooked mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in on a platter on top of egg noodles and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.



Recipe for Sauteed Mushrooms

Kitchen Supplies:

• 10-in skillet
  

Sauteed Mushrooms:

• 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Place skillet over high heat with butter and oil. As soon as you see the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their saute, the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes, the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushrooms will begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.