Beef Bourguignon or close to it

I am a food network junky. I love to watch it. Well, how surprising is that when I really like to eat good food also.


Do you watch the food network? Who's your favorite Chef?

I really enjoy watching and cooking the recipes of the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. I have three of her cookbooks. You can find things from Christmas dinner to snacks that are delicious. Most of all her recipes are simple and only use few ingredients.


My husband took me to see Julie & Julia. I LOVED it. I had heard about Julia Childs but did not really know who she was. The movie was really inspiring for me. I wanted to go home and cook something really hard and really good.

I jumped on the Internet to find a Julia Childs cookbook. Guess what? So DID EVERYONE else. They were not to be found, unless you wanted to spend like 50 bucks or more. So, instead I went to the Barefoot Contessa.

The first time I cooked this I used a roast. But for supper tonight, I only wanted to cook it for an hour, so I adapted the recipe as follows.

Beef Bourguignon Stew.
1 pound of stew meat
salt and pepper
olive oil
1/4 lb diced bacon
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup of dry red wine
1 can beef broth
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1/2 tsp thyme
1 large onion, cut to chunks
small bag baby carrots
3 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon of flour
1 pint mushrooms

In a large dutch oven, brown the stew meat in olive oil. Use high heat. Remove to plate. It's should not be completely cooked. That's okay.

Add bacon and cook through. Remove to plate. Remove all dripping except about 2 tablespoons.

Add garlic and saute for a minute. Pour in read wine and beef broth. Make sure to scrap bits off bottom of pan. This makes it taste so much more yummy.

Add tomato paste. Bring to boil and let reduce for a minute or two.

Add beef, bacon, carrots, onions, salt, pepper, and thyme.

In a small bowl mash together 3 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour. Once combined add to beef mixture.

Stir to mix well. Cover with lid and let simmer for 30-45 minutes. Cook until meat is fork tender (pulls apart easily).

When almost done, saute mushrooms with 1 tablespoon of butter and oil until tender and brown. Add to beef mixture. Serve.

This is what's for supper tonight

Let me know if you try it and what you think.