Daring Cooks May 2012 – Boeuf Bourguignon

This month’s daring cooks challenge was to make Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon. I hadn’t even heard of Julia Child before the Julie and Julia movie came out, but since then I’ve browsed through her numerous cookbooks and even read her memoir My Life in France, practically drooling over the meal descriptions.  Seeing as how this is one of her most famous dishes I’ve wanted to make this for a while, but without a clear cut assignment ahead of me I’ve always found excuses and procrastinated tackling this dish. Though the length and expensive ingredient list can be discouraging the final result is worth both the money and the effort.

Though D and I have essentially stopped eating red meat (apparently I am an incredibly impressionable person because after Omnivore’s Dilemma and countless articles online I’ve drastically changed my daily food decisions) I figured I would make an exception for this recipe. Four hours and a hike through the Rock Creek Park later (is it bad that I leave the house when the oven is on for hours?) dinner was ready. And what a delicious meal it was. Who knew that those incredibly annoying to peel pearl onions could taste like little balls of goodness after a sautee and simmer in beef broth? I knew the beef would be incredibly tender – after 3+ hours of cooking how could it not be, but I wasn’t imaging the complexity and depth of flavor in the sauce. The color alone – more of a deep purple than a dark brown, was incredible. Naturally I licked my plate clean – and then went for seconds…. and thirds…

A truly magnificent recipe, and I look forward to delving deeper into Julia Child’s world of cooking.