BEEF BOURGUIGNON

The first food I made from scratch was Toll House Cookies. I liked them a lot so my mother finally let me mix them up and plop them on the cookie sheet. I guess I was about eight years old.

When I was about 14, I went to a summer camp where we had an Indian meal. One of the dishes was "purries," a potato bread heavily kneaded and formed in a circle the size of a biscuit that bubbled up and provided a kind of spoon that could be used to scoop up the other food on the table. When I got home from camp, I insisted on making these for an astonished family, much happier with my mother's wonderful cloverleaf rolls.

Flush with these successes, the nex thing I attempted was beef bourguignon. What chutzpa I had! I don't remember how it turned out (I'm sure I would remember if it had been a disaster) and I'm sure I had a lot of help from Mom. Here's a recipe for this tasty stew, adapted from Ina Garten and reminiscent of a bouguignon that came from a friend who used to have a New Year's Day party where this was always served. Resolve to make it on a cold winter weekend. (I'm actually making it today.) The recipe is heavy on the carrots.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

serves 6-8



1 T good olive oil

8-oz good bacon, diced

2 1/2 lb beef chuck cut into 1" cubes

Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 lb carrots, sliced diagonally into 1 inch chunks

2 yellow onions, sliced

2 t chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)

1/2 C Cognac or good brandy

1 bottle good dry red wine, such as Burgundy (I will use a Pinot Noir)

2 to 2 1/2 C canned beef broth

1 T tomato paste

1 t fresh thyme leaves

4 T unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided

3 T all purpose flour

1 lb frozen small whole onions

1 lb mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

For serving

Country bread, toasted or grilled

1 garlic clove, cut in half

1/2 C chopped parsley (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

3. Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.

4. Toss the carrots, onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper into the fat in the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Add the wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a boil, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid, and place in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours, or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

5. Combine 2 tablespoons of the butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew to thicken it. Add the frozen onions. In a medium pan, saute the mushrooms in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until lightly bronwed and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncoverd for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

6. Rub each slice of bread on one side with garlic. For each serving, spoon the stew over a slice of bread and sprinkle with parsley.

The photograph shows the bourguignon in the cooking carrots and onions stage.