Let's get cooking!
FOR Valentine’s Day my husband bought me a DVD of Julie & Julia, a gorgeous movie – adapted from two books – starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child, a well-known American cook, author and TV star.
In the movie, blogger Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams) sets herself a challenge to cook and blog about every one of the recipes in Julia’s renowned cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
One of the recipes that comes up again and again in the movie is Julia’s Boeuf Bourguignon – a stew so luxurious, so delicious, so decadent, so special that it brings grown men to their knees.
It’s the stuff of fairytales is this stew so when I found the recipe for it here – on cookbook publisher Knopf Doubleday’s website – I thought I’d give it a shot myself. http://cooking.knopfdoubleday.com/2009/07/13/julia-childs-boeuf-bourguignon-recipe/
Sure why not? How hard could it be? And with the added bonus of blowing Yer Man’s knickers off, what could possibly go wrong?
Famous last words.
Ok, nothing actually went wrong, in that I didn’t burn anything or drop anything on the floor, but all knickers in this house remained very firmly on.
Boeuf Bourguignon is a lot of work. It’s not hard, but it’s a very lengthy process. There are several stages to complete and some of the stages are a little finicky.
I spent well over four hours cooking – including peeling and prepping vegetables – and I ended up with a tasty beef stew. It was rich, yes, and beefy, I could taste the wine and herbs. But frankly, I’ve had better. With much less fuss.
I can’t tell you how disappointed I am. I really had my heart set on this stew. I’ve been planning it for two weeks, researching the recipe, shopping, looking out pots and pans, setting aside a full day to make it. Giving myself a day off from Slimming World specifically for this dish. I’ve had day dreams where it became my signature dish and friends and family would clamour to come to dinner and beg me to make ‘my’ Boeuf Bourguignon. And after all that, it’s been a bit of a bust.
I could cry. But I won’t. Instead here are a few photos of how I spent my afternoon. If you’d like to try this recipe for yourself, click the link above and it explains everything.
At least the fresh herbs look pretty. They were worth the wait.
Sautee the bacon
Brown the beef
Fry off some onion and carrot, add to the beef and bacon and add some flour
Add red wine, stock, garlic, herbs, tomato puree and seasoning
Put the casserole dish into the oven for 2.5 hours. I look so hopeful there. *Bawls*
Next, brown some shallots in butter, then braise them in stock for 45 minutes
Fry some mushrooms in butter, in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan
When the 2.5 hours are up, mix through the onions and mushrooms and serve
Voila. Boeuf Bourguignon with roasties and peas. Four hours of work went into that one plate. *Bawls*
Beating Myself Into a Dress 
Jenni
It looks stunning, absolutely stunning…. (passes a tissue)
beatingmyselfintoadress
*Sniff* thanks. It looked alright and don’t get me wrong, it was nice, we scoffed it. But it was a bog standard beef stew. I really wanted it to be magical. And it wasn’t. Gis another tissue there…
nuttygal
I make Beef Bourguignon quite regularly but I follow James Martin’s recipe. It’s never let me down. It really is magical and seems to be a lot less effort than Julia Child’s too. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1367587/Recipe-Beef-bourguignon.html Here’s a link if you feel you ever want to make it again. AT least when something doesn’t work out the way you want it you can always write a blog about it!
beatingmyselfintoadress
Thanks for that recipe! I might give it a go. Another time, I’m done with cooking for today! Yeah, I preferred the Meryl bits as well, she was incredible in the role. Though, I’m such a greedy guts I paid more attention to what they were cooking! I spent the movie drooling.
nuttygal
PS – did you not think Amy Adam’s character (Julie) was a right wagon! I loved the film but hated her, only wanted to see the Meryl bits, and Stanley Tucci!
Sarah
Loving your QVC pose and oven mitts! Maybe your expectations were a bit too high? Cooking is a load of bollocks anyway, you’re better off without it
beatingmyselfintoadress
Yeah, I think I had built it up to be this wunder dish that would be the best thing I’d ever tasted ever in my whole life. Like a big eejit. I love cooking though, so I’ll persevere! The oven mitts are fab, they’re Cath Kidston, they were a birthday present along with the apron.
Sascha
Even in the film it was mentioned that the Boeuf Bourgignon was “bland”…I wonder did Julia kinda drop the ball on that recipe…I have known that stew to blow minds when done right – Chez Max at Dublin Castle do an incredible Boeuf Bourgignon. The Julia dish I’d really like to try is whatever that cheesey concoction she made was. Watched it on tv there a while back, recorded it and now I can’t stop watching it! Such a good film.
beatingmyselfintoadress
Oh I don’t remember it being referred to as bland in the film! I must have missed that bit. They all raved about it and even online people rave about it. Must try Chez Max, see what it’s like. I would like to be blown away! I have it on DVD and I can see myself watching it over and over. SUCH a good film. Thanks for the comment!
Siobhan
Ah love your story and it reminds of the original book behnd the movie by Julie Powells (the Amy Adam’s character). You should look it up if you haven’t already done so. It is very very good and if you like cooking then you will really appreciate her attempts to cook all 524 recipes (in one year) from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She’s also written a second book about butchery called Cleaving but as I’m a veggie I thought I’d give that a miss. And – in fairness to her – she doesn’t come across very well in either books but I kind of like that about her that she’s not sugar coating anything ….
Jean | Delightful Repast
I just discovered your blog, and I’m loving it! Though this isn’t a recent post, it’s one I just *had* to comment on. Loved that movie, and Meryl Streep did a fabulous job. I actually met and chatted with Julia Child on several occasions, and Meryl was right on. Here’s my adaptation of her recipe for the famous Boeuf Bourguignon – http://delightfulrepast.blogspot.com/2010/03/boeuf-bourguignon-beef-stew-in-red-wine.html.