Beef Bourguignon

Yesterday, I channeled my inner Julia Child and made Boeuf Bourguignon. Recently, the Cooking Channel tweeted a recipe that looked really good so I put it on my must try list! This is a slow cooking meal that takes about 3 hours so it is not a weeknight meal, but fit the bill perfectly for a quiet Sunday afternoon!  I also made a simple green salad.  To round out the meal, I made a loaf of GF crusty french bread using Pamela's Bread Mix because we needed some good bread to sop up the broth! 

The only ingredient I altered in the recipe was the flour as I opted to use GF flour instead of wheat.  I used red cooking wine because I didn't have any regular red wine on hand and there are no alcohol sales on Sunday in Indiana so I punted, but if you have a bottle of your favorite red on hand, use it.  

Beef Bourguignon: 

Ingredients:

4 pounds boneless stew beef

2 tbsp olive oil, plus more if needed

2 carrots, peeled and halved

2 onions, peeled and halved

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup GF flour

1 (750ml) bottle red wine

4 cups beef stock

3 bay leaves

Spigs of parsley and thyme 

1 tbsp olive oil, plus more if needed

• 8 slices bacon, cut into thick chunks
• 1 bag frozen pearl onions, thawed
• 1 (16oz pkg) mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325* F. Remove the meat from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, about 20 minutes.  Heat the oil in a large oven proof pot. Working in batches, brown the stew meat well on all sides, removing as you go. When the meat is done, cook the carrots and onions in the same pot until tender and lightly golden. Add the garlic, and cook one minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Pour over the wine and the stock. Add the bay leaf, parsley and thyme.. Return the meat to the pot, cover, and transfer to the oven until the meat is very tender, about 2 hours.  While the meat cooks, prepare the garnish: Heat the oil, in a pan and brown the bacon, and remove. Add the onions and cook until browned all over, remove. Finally, brown the mushrooms and remove.  Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup water, reduce, and then pour over the garnish. Set aside.  When the meat is done, remove it from the pot.  Strain the stock, discarding the vegetables. Pour the liquid back into the pot, and boil until thick enough to coat a spoon.. Return the meat to the pan and add the garnish. Cover, and simmer until the onions are tender and the flavors have blended, 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. Serve.