Day Four - Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Boeuf Bourguignon

It would be crazy not to make the Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew in Red Wine, with Bacon, Onions and Mushrooms) while testing these books.  This dish is famous!  Julia Child debuts this dish on her cooking show.  It was in the movie Julie and Julia, it’s one of the first stews you make in cooking school, and a few of my cookbooks have mentioned that its an amazing stew.

So today, I made the Beef Bourguignon.  I wouldn't say that it was a difficult recipe. However it was a bit time consuming.  The key ingredients beef, small onions, mushrooms and sauce were individually treated with tender loving care.  Was it worth the time in the end?  I would say so.   Although this dish was tasty, I prefer the complexity and sweetness of the Carbonnades A la Flamande.  Don't get me wrong.  Both stews were excellent and I'm not even a beef stew kind of person.  But I did prefer the Carbonnades A La Flamande.  It could be because I made and ate Boeuf Bourguignon more times than I care to remember in cooking school or I had to put almost a 750 ml bottle of my red wine in the dish instead of drink it.

This Boeuf Bourguignon recipe is a good dish that every cook should try and make.  I've eaten a lot of beef stews that made me wonder if I would even survive the meal.  Dry, chewy and tasteless beef or bitter, pale or watery sauces.

So if you are going to make your standard beef stew. Don't let the cow die in vain, make the Boeuf Bourguignon or the Carbonnades A La Flamande.

The Cookbook Addict