Fabi  from Fabsfood was our May Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to make boeuf bourguignon. I was so happy. Wine, beef, bacon, mushrooms....  It has ALL of my favorite ingredients in one dish. Fabi provided us with  Julia Child’s recipe, from her book “Mastering the art of french cooking”. Here are Fabi's  instruction.

Boeuf bourguignon


Ingredients for 6 people:
Ingredients
1 x 6 oz (200 gr) chunk of streaky bacon
Olive oil
3 pounds (1⅓ kg) stewing beef cut into 2 inches (5 cm) cubes
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
½ teaspoon (5 ml) (2 gm) pepper
3 tablespoons (45 ml) (1 oz/30 gm) flour
3 cups (1½ pint/720 ml) of young red wine. Suggestions: Bourgogne, of course, but also Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti, Rioja etc., depending on your country and your taste. Being Spanish, my choice this time was a good Rioja. It really has to be a good one but it hasn’t necessarily to be a very expensive one, you know, il ne faut pas exagérer
1 carrot, sliced (I prefer to cut it into chunks, but that's just my taste)
1 onion, sliced in julienne
1 ½ to 2 cups (¾ to 1 pint/355 to 475 ml) of beef stock or beef bouillon
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) tomato paste or tomato puree
2 cloves mashed garlic
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (1 gm) thyme leaves
1 bay leave (Julia says it has to be crushed, I prefer not to crush it so that I can remove it at the end of the process)
The blanched bacon rind
18-24 small onions, brown-braised in stock
1 pound (½ kg) mushrooms sautéed in butter (Champignons are perfect for this purpose)
Fresh parsley sprigs to serve
Directions:
1.Prepare the bacon: Remove the rind. Cut the bacon into lardons (Sticks, ¼ inch thick and ½ inch (5 mm x 15 mm) long) and simmer everything in 4 cups (1 litre) of water for 10 minutes. Drain and dry carefully with paper towels.
2.Dry the meat cubes carefully with paper towels.
3.Preheat oven to hot 450ºF/230ºC/gas mark 8
4.In a fireproof casserole or a frying pan, sauté the lardons in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes until they’re lightly brown. Remove them to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
5.In the same casserole/pan, sauté the beef until it’s golden brown. Remove it to the side dish where you keep the bacon and set aside.
6.Still in the same casserole/pan, sauté the carrot and the onion.
7.Return the bacon and the beef to the casserole. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, then add the flour and toss.
 8.Place the casserole/dish uncovered in the middle position of the oven for 4 minutes. This gives the meat a lovely crust.
9.Remove the casserole/dish from the oven. Stir in the wine, stock, tomato paste, mashed garlic cloves, thyme, bay and the blanched bacon rind.
10.Bring it to simmering point on the stove. Now, if you were using a frying pan, discard it and put the stew in an oven proof dish.
11.Cover the casserole/dish (If your dish doesn't have a lid, use aluminum foil and stretch it to the edges of the dish in order to minimize the loss of juices) and place it low in the oven. Adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly, it has to go on for 3-4 hours.
12.While the stew is cooking, prepare onions and mushrooms. For the onions: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and sauté the peeled onions until golden brown. Add beef stock until they’re almost covered and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until almost all the liquid disappears and they’re tender but keep their shape. Set aside.
 13.Prepare the mushrooms as well: Wash quarter and sauté them in 2 tablespoons butter. Keep on stirring until they’re nicely brown. Set aside.
 14.When meat is tender, put the stew into a sieve over a saucepan, wash out the casserole and return the stew to it. Put onions and mushrooms over the meat.
15.Skim the fat off the sauce. Put the saucepan on the stove and simmer it for 2-3 minutes. Skim additional fat if it rises. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If not, boil it until it thickens. If it’s too thick, stir in some stock or bouillon to make it lighter.
16.Pour the sauce over the stew. Put the casserole on the stove or in the oven and reheat for 2-3 minutes. Serve it in the casserole with some sprigs of fresh parsley. Some goods sides are potatoes, noodles or rice.
Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: You can keep leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you want to freeze it, it lasts up to 3 months.

The only changes I made were adding a few extra carrots.   I cooked boeuf bourguignon two days in a row. First time I made only 1/4 of the recipe and didn't get any photos . I ate it almost immediately because it was so delicious.

 Dear Fabi, thanks so much for a very YUMMY challenge!


Boeuf bourguignon
Domaćica ovomesečne igre Daring Bakers Fabi sa bloga Fabsfood nas je izazvala da napravimo beef bourguignon i na tome joj mnogo hvala. Ovo je bio jedan jako ukusan izazov.  Ako do sada niste probali ovaj klasik francuske kuhinje sada je pravo vreme da to učinite.

Potrebno Vam je :
200 gr mesnate slanine
maslinovo ulje
1,3 kg junećeg buta isečenog na kockice 3x3 cm
1 kašičica soli
1 kašičica mlevenog bibera
3 supene kašike brašna
720 ml mladog crvenog vina
1 šargarepa ( ja sam stavila ipak više, 4 ili pet manjih)
1 crveni luk, sitno seckan
450 ml juneće bistre  supe + 100 ml supe ( za dinstanje malih lukčića)
1 supena kašika paradajz pirea
2 čena belog luka (propasirana kroz presu  ili sitno naseckana)
1/2 kafene kašičice timijana
1 list lovora
18-24 malih lukčića 
1/2 kg manjih šampinjonja
2 kašike putera 


Iseckajte slaninicu na šnjite a zatim svaku šnjiticu na manje komadiće. Kocke mesa posušite ubrusima. zagrejte rernu na 230°C. U tiganju propržite slaninicu na kašici maslinovog ulja. Ocedite supljom kašikom i izvadite na tanjir. Na toj masnoći propržite kockice mesa, ravnomerno sa svake strane. . Izvadite ih i stavite na tanjir sa slaninom.Zatim u istom tiganju ubacite šargarepu i luk i kratko ih proprzite dok luk ne postane staklast. Tiganj sklonite sa vatre i vratite  meso i slaninu. Posolite i pobiberite i dodajte brašno. Sve dobro promešate i stavite u rernu tako što ćete rešetku postavite na sredinu rerne.  pecite 4 minuta, otvorite rernu, promešajte i pecite još 4 minuta.





Dodajte vino, supu, paradajz pire, lovorov list, timijan i beli luk.
Pustite da proključa. Ako ste do sada koristili tiganj, pravo je vreme da sve preručite u keramičku posudu za pečenje.Posudu poklopite odgovarajućim poklopcem ili aluminiskom folijom ako poklopac nemate. Rešetku u rerni pomerite na najniži podeljak i stavite posudu sa jelom na nju. Temperaturu u rerni podesite na 180°C i kuvajte 3-4 sata dok meso ne postane lepo mekano. Pri kraju kuvanja, 1 kašiku putera otopite u tiganji i  propržite pečurke pa ih izvadite ih iz tiganja. U istom tiganju istopite još jednu  kašiku putera i propržite  male lukčiće dok ne dobiju zlatnu boju. Nalijte ih sa 1 dl  govedje supe (da ogreznu) i kuvajte na tihoj vatri jedno 20-25 minuta,dok ne postanu meki ali treba da zadrže oblik.
Kada je meso mekano, procedite ga kroz finu rešetku iznad tiganja,  meso vratite u posudu u koju se peklo preko njega rasporedite lukčiće i pečurke a sos u tiganju zgusnite  i prelijte preko svega. Pospite sa sveže seckanim peršunom i poslužite odmah uz krompir, pastu ili pirinač.
Prijatno :)
Ovo je zvanično postalo moje omiljeno jelo. Pravila sam ga dva puta za redom.Prvi put sam napravila samo četvrtinu recepta za nas dvoje ali kada sam krenula da se pripremam za slikanje a bb je tako dobro mirisao, smazali smo ga a da nisam ni jednu fotku okinula. Ovo su slike drugog po redu bb-a. Kao što vidite i tu mi se žurilo da krenem sa jelom pa su slike malo krive, čaša nije u kadru.... Meni je prosto nemoguće stajati iznad ovog jela ,upijati mirise a imati mirnu ruku za slikanje. : ))