I had been planning on making this dish for quite sometime. I even bought myself a spiffy new
cast iron enamel pot.
Something I didn't want to do for just Dan and I. It sounded to complicated to try out for company.
With Chris here for the week I knew she would make and appreciative guinea pig.
I am a pretty confident cook, so it was funny how intimidating this all seemed to me. I think it was all the little steps that sounded so over the top. For some other unknown reason I thought the recipe called for short ribs. In fact when I got ready to cook it, the recipe said stew meat hmmm??? Well I had short ribs so here we go. Leave it to me to never exactly follow a recipe =/
First I browned the bacon, removed it, and poured off most of the fat to use for later. I browned the meat a few pieces at a time in a little swish of olive oil and some bacon fat. Took the meat out, browned some onions in some of the bacon fat. Then I put the all the meat back in, with the bacon, tossed with 1/4 of flour, salt and pepper, garlic, a bay leaf, couple teaspoons of thyme. Added the carrots, 2 cups of red wine, 1/2 can of tomato sauce, beef broth to cover the ingredients, and then baked it in the oven for about 3 hours at 325.
I served it with boiled red potatoes and green beans, as
Julia 
suggested and voila...it was divine. Dan and Chris were happy. I thought it was...well tasty and good...but kind of nothing new. Turns out when Jenna tasted it later that night...she said "Oh it tastes like your stew." Yeah that was what I thought...a very good stew, but I have been using most of the same ingredients in my own stews over the years. Of coarse it changes up a little bit each time. I loved using the
enamel pot. One pot and it cleaned up very easily! I will definitely be serving this one up for company...but I won't be calling it stew ;>)
Oh and do forgive my less than glamorous table setting. I was just happy to get a meal on the table after a very long day of shopping and visiting....
9 comments:
I love your pot
I've been thinking about getting a pot like that for awhile. I've been looking at the more oval design. Could only seem to find them in the $200 range. I am either not looking in the right spot or were too picky. I can't buy used pots...
Never thought of amazon though. I've been using my stock pot for cooking stews and so forth.
I don't know why you would be intimidated by a reciepe though. You're an amazing cook.
I tackled my first lasagna the other day and thought to myself "How would Cindy do this?"
I was defiently intimidated by lasanga! It didn't turn out half bad, and I've never been a big fan of lasanga.
I think you were just indimidated by the name Boeuf Bourguignon.
Well, that and Julia Child she could intimidated anybody.
DarkXid: I love my pot too. Bought it at Macy's on sale. I paid about $50.00. Even though you can find them around town for about $50.00 at TJ's and such, I had to have white, the sale ones were always bold colors :)
The famous Le Creuset ones are twice the price. I wouldn't mind have a real one someday. Yeah, maybe the larger oval shape :)
...and it was divine!!! I too need one of these amazing stew pots! I'm on the hunt for one in the right color and the right price range!
Thanks sis for an amazing meal that night.
Yummy!
Oh yum! It looks delicious...you are putting me in the mood for some really good beef stew aka beef bourgoignon!
I love that you bought a new pot to try out the recipe! I'm sure youy will find many uses for it.
That Beef Bourgougnon (whatever) recipe has likely had many cooks trying it in these past few months. It looks good to me!
I am making this tomorrow--my crock pot version-- which may not be as good as yours, but then it's all I've ever tried, so I wouldn't know, but it is dee licious. Then we are going to watch the young victoria. I didn't know JC recommended serving with potatoes but that makes sense, your table looks yummy.
Podso, Haha you were one of the people I didn't want to see my non glamorous table setting. lol I am always delighted and stretched to see how lovely you set your tables. They are so creative and thought out. Definitely on my to aim for list! I think the real difference in this method is the browning/caramelizing of the meat and onions. It adds an extra layer of flavor. I am a big crock pot gal myself. So easy to just dump and not think about it. Although after the browning and layering, I just tossed the whole kit and caboodle into the oven and set the timer and took off for the day.
Does your family realize how fortunate they are to have you and your cooking skills, in their lives? Julia would be so proud of you, and I am sure the tablescape is secondary...I know that for a fact. There is a time and place for everything.
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