Boeuf Bourguignon

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a week with some of my dearest sisters. One of the things that we really wanted to do was make Boeuf Bourguignon together.

One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon

3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons flour

3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

1/2 teaspoon thyme

A crumbled bay leaf

18 to 24 white onions, small

3 1/2 tablespoons butter

Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)

1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.

Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).

Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.

Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.

Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.

Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.

Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.

Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.

Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.

Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, 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 stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.

Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.

Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

Enjoy! I'll get the dessert from the day posted soon!

Liz 

Lemon-Buttermilk Cake

Well, the other day I was in the mood for something kinda tart. So I looked through one of my Culinary Institute of America (CIA) cookbooks and I found a recipe for Lemon-Buttermilk Cake. The cookbook this recipe is from is called Cooking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America, CIA cookbooks are the best by the way, and I would really recommend this cookbook to anyone serious about baking. Oh, and thanks to my older sister, Willa, for taking this picture of my cake.

Ingredients:

flour and shortening for greasing the cake pan

2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour plus

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup (two sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature

1 3/4 cups of sugar

1 tbsp of grated lemon zest

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups of buttermilk

(Here is a substitute for buttermilk if you don't have any on hand: 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar and 

1 1/4 tsp cream of tarter mixed with 1/2 milk and 1/2 of cream. Makes about 1 cup. Note: this mixture is called "sour milk.")

5 tbsp of lemon juice (3-4 large lemons)

3/4 cups of powdered sugar

1 tbsp of very hot water plus extra as needed

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease and flour a large Bundt pan (9 to 10-inches) with shortening and flour. Next sift the flour, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside.

Grate enough lemon peel to equal 1 tbsp. Next, juice the lemons. Set the juice and zest aside.

If you are substituting sour milk for the buttermilk, go ahead and mix it up and set it aside.

Cream the butter until light on medium speed and add the sugar. Add the sugar in slowly over three minutes and then mix in the lemon zest. Continue mixing on medium speed for two more minutes and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. 

Important note: after each addition of flour or milk, mix on low speed only until just combined. Add half the flour mixture, then all the buttermilk or sour milk, and then the last of the flour; mix between each addition. Increase the speed to medium and mix the batter until light and smooth in texture, this should take 2-3 minutes. Add 4 of the 5 tbsps of lemon juice and mix about 30 seconds.

Pour the batter in the Bundt pan and put it in the oven and cook it until the center springs back when touched and a skewer that's inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, this should take about 65-75 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven to a wire rack and cool it in the pan. When the cake has cooled, loosen it from the sides of the pan with a knife or thin metal spatula and then invert the pan over a plate.

Combine the powdered sugar, remaining tbsp of lemon juice and the 1 tbsp hot water in a small sauce pan and whisk until very smooth. The glaze should be about the consistency of honey, if it is not, add more sugar or water as the need may be. Spoon or brush the glaze on the cake, give it time to firm, and then slice and serve the cake. 

Hope you all enjoy this recipe, it's pretty tasty. Let me know what you think.