Okay, here's the most amazing dish you'll ever eat - promise. We've got stacks leftover so tonight I'm putting it in a pie dish, covering it with puff pastry, basting it with egg wash and sprinkling the top with pale pink salt flakes before baking till golden.
There are a lot of steps in this - but seriously, I beg of you, it's worth it.
Julia Child = genius
Boeuf Bourguignon
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Difficult
Cook Time: Over 120 min
This recipe is from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961)
Ingredients
One 170g piece of chunk bacon
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1.3kg 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)
450g mushrooms, fresh and quartered
Cooking Directions
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 2 cups water. Drain and dry.
Preheat oven to 230 degrees celcius.
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 160 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.
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.
Well, apparently we're leaving in 45 minutes to head off on hols... I'm kinda ready. Bags are packed, lists are ticked {hey, how happy am I that I've got a couple of different 'holiday' lists on my harddrive? I just printed out the One Week Holiday list and everything I need is on there ready to tick off!}
Oh I am sooooooo ready for a holiday. I've done all but the final read-through and edit of my last two bits of work, the house is, well, okay {thanks mainly to my gal and her bestie who cleaned her bedroom - and our bedroom - magnificently mind, and without being asked!}.
Hey, guess what? I've posted over 900 posts! Surely I can reach 1000 by the end of the year - how's that for a goal?
Only a vegetarian could walk out of a screening of Julia and Julie without the most serious hankering for Boeuf Bourguignon. As you know, I'm no vegetarian, and I love rich, french meals.
Being frugal requires organisation - something I've had darned little of on the homefront lately. However, because of that I've made a few make-do meals that've stretched the dollar further. One night we had salami and mozzarella pizza with pantry and freezer basics. I always like to have some lebanese bread in the freezer for ready-made, speedy bases. We've also defrosted a 'who-knows-what-that-is' meal from the freezer and served it with pasta {it was lamb casserole apparently}.
You know what I love more than a party? Nothing. Actually, no, I love a THEME party more than just a regular party. Which is why I'm utterly beside myself at being invited to a kids' and parents' Halloween party by a hostess who loves parties as much as I do {possibly even more...}
We're off on a week's holiday on Monday, so I've got a lot of work to do before we leave to ensure it's a stress-free and relaxing trip. Hence, I'll need a lot of discipline to get it all done. Hence, these shoes! Mr Pucci's designed these for the woman with a servant who's happy to get down low and go, go, go with all those buckles. I must say, you know those nights that you come in late and can't be bothered removing your make-up? Well imagine the damage these 4.5 inch heels could cause the Egyptian cotton sheets...
I should be jealous of Rachel Zoe's bank account, unlimited access to couture, vintage wardrobe, front row fashion week seats, darling hubby... but no, my searing envy limits itself to one aspect. 
I loved this movie. Loved, loved, loved, loved it. I laughed out loud - plenty of times - and I'm not a loud laugher... I also had tears in my eyes. Fell in love with my husband all over again after this beautiful, beautiful depiction of a fabulous marriage and am inspired to cook up a month of French feasts.
I love going to the movies, love it. Surprisingly, however, I rarely manage to see a film on the big screen - or the small half the time. Tonight though, I'm off with a couple of gal pals to a Girl's Night Out fundraising screening of Julie & Julia. Woo hoo,
Whew, what a weekend. Hubby and I went to Sydney to do lotsa test drives of new cars - fell in love with a few, out of love with others. We've now narrowed it down to Top 2 - and fallback car. Basically if we get offered a deal we can't refuse we'll buy one of the Top 2 - if not, we'll happily go with the cheaper fallback car.
Now, we've only been out car shopping twice so far, and here's my advice for the 'sales'men out there {yet to spot a salesgal yet...}
Should I have a black-tie do to attend, and an unlimited budget, this frock by Oscar de la Renta would be sliding its way onto my bod. 
Just when I am positive that my love for Drew is at a peak - she goes out in these shoes and I'm besotted all over again.
Today's post is all about living within your means. It seems like a logical thing, but when you look about, you realise how few people actually do. We're in the market for a new car. A NEW car. At the age of 42 it'll be the first time I've ever bought a new car. But the 18-year-old down the road from me? Her first car was a new car... My first car was a 1974 Toyota Corolla.
I am becoming inordinately fond of the colour grey. And, oh my, this La Perla swimsuit positively shrieks chic does it not? Lying poolside in the south of France would require a swimsuit as glam as the location. Hmmmmmm.
