Happy 100th Birthday & Boeuf Bourguignon

Four favorite Julia cookbooks from my collection

Today would be Julia Child's 100th birthday, she is by far my all time favorite's chef!  She literally wrote the book on cooking ~ Mastering the Art of French Cooking!

One of my signed books from 1996

I am "triple lucky"  - is that possible?  I was lucky enough to meet Julia at a book signing many years ago where she signed my cookbooks, and all I remember is how sweet and how kind she was to me!

A few Julia books in my kitchen bookcase

Below is Julia's most famous recipe, and I have to tell you, it's easy, easy, easy to make!  I've made it several times!  I hope you enjoy it!

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The ingredients and directions make this recipe look daunting, it's not!

Ingredients
6 ounces of bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef (cut into 2-inch cubes)
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1 carrot (sliced)
1 onion (sliced)
3 cups full-bodied young red wine (like chianti)
2-3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
½ teaspoon thyme
1 crumbled bay leaf
18 – 24 small white onions (brown-braised in stock) (I buy the frozen pearl and let them defrost)
1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms (sautéed in butter)
parsley sprigs

Directions
Remove rind from bacon and cut in sticks, 1/4 inch thick. Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450F.

Sauté the bacon in olive oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown slightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set pot aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the 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. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced carrot and onion. Pour out the fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the pot and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set pot uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. Remove pot, and turn oven down to 325F.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon 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 pot and set in lover third of oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is sone when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.
When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the bee and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and 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. Serve immediately.

Two Years Ago

Here's a post I wrote about My favorite cook, Julia! when I first started blogging, what I loved most about going back and reading this post, are all the lovely comments from my friends!  

I continue to appreciate each of you, more than you know, and I look forward to continued friendship!  XO