Friday : Beef stew

Boeuf Bourguinon has somehow become one of my go-to recipes for groups. This time it was a big family birthday party.

The recipe gets adapted to local conditions, of course: Brown the cubed beef well and set aside. Pour off the fat and deglaze with a bit of wine (a French pinot noir produced by R. Mondavi(!)). Render some bacon cut into strips. Add this to the beef and pour off the fat. Cook some thinly sliced leeks with a bit of carrot until the leek softens. Sprinkle over some flour and let cook another couple minutes. Add back the meats, some more wine, fresh thyme sprigs, dried rosemary, and a good grind of black pepper. Let simmer a couple hours until the beef is tender.

Meanwhile cut some shallots in half, brown them well in olive oil and set aside. Cut some mushrooms into chunks, brown them well in bacon fat and set aside.

Just before serving stir in the shallots and mushrooms.

We ate this with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a big green salad.

As a dessert contribution I also did a batch of blueberry cobbler from Bittman.